(Super) Heroic Rivalry
by Chizu5645
Summary: Superhero / Mutant / Gakuen AU. For three high school boys, dealing with homework and family is already enough stress. But with the sudden, awkward appearance of superpowers, they'll have to delve into a world of not-so-well-kept secrets, nosy people, and rival superheroes. Because life wasn't hard enough already.
1. Ooh, A New Friend?

_**Feliciano**_

"Looooooviiiiii!"

…

" _Looooooovviiiiiiiiiii!_ "

…

Feliciano huffed, drumming his fingers on the kitchen counter. What was taking his older brother so long?

"Loooooovii—"

" _I heard you the first time, idiota!_ "

Feliciano smiled. Typical Lovino. "But I really need you! It's really important!"

"I highly doubt it!"

Feliciano just shook his head, still smiling. Sure, Lovino could be the most pessimistic, angriest brother on the planet, but that was what made Lovi special.

A man entered the kitchen, still stuffing his rosy-red shirt into his black slacks. "Feli, have you—"

"I'm already ready, Grandpa!" Feliciano interrupted, now grinning. "You don't have to worry about a thing! I'm just waiting for Lovi, and then we'll be ready."

His grandfather smiled almost as widely as Feliciano. "That's great, Feli! But I was about to ask if you've seen my apron. It wasn't in the bathroom."

Even though he was already a grandpa, Feliciano's grandfather could've been mistaken as the father. He was technically sixty-one, but he didn't look a day over forty; whenever he was asked, 'what's your secret?' he only replied with a reply along the lines of 'Mediterranean food and no smoking' and a wink.

"Um…" Feliciano looked around the kitchen, his eyes soon landing on the coat rack. "I think it's over there."

His grandfather followed his line of sight, beaming once he saw the black apron. "Ah! Thanks, Feli!" He ruffled his grandson's hair and strode over to the apron, checking pockets and putting it on.

There was a loud, irritated sigh, and both Feliciano and his grandfather faced the source, already knowing full well who it was.

Lovino shouldered his backpack, his characteristic frown on his face. "Feli, you said you needed me for something?"

"Yes!" Feliciano hurried to the refrigerator and pulled out two medium containers. "I forgot to ask you last night, but… Fettucine or pizza? I wanted you to choose first, since yesterday I chose first!"

Lovino blinked. "Wait… Seriously?"

"Yes! Although, I _really_ want the fettucine—"

"No, I meant seriously, you said this was important! Choosing what lunch I want isn't even remotely important!" Lovino interrupted, rolling his eyes as he pushed past Feliciano onto the kitchen table. "… Just give me the damn pizza."

After handing him the pizza, Feliciano took the container of fettucine and shoved it in his green and red striped lunchbox, grinning. "Ready! Let's go, Lovi!"

Lovino scowled, zipping up his own blue lunchbox. "How are you so cheerful about school? It's nothing to get exciting about, it's just a place for us losers to be picked on by other _bastards_ —"

"Language, Lovino," their grandfather chided, pinning on a small name tag labeled 'Romulus' on his apron. "Now, you take care, okay boys? I'm going to the café now."

A tired voice popped up before either of the boys could respond. "Grandpa? Feli? Lovi?" They all turned towards the voice. "Did someone make leftover breakfast? I'm hungry."

"Sebastian?" The grandfather chuckled, walking over to his youngest grandson and ruffling his already messy bedhead. "What are you doing up early? I thought you wanted to rest for the swim meet."

"I know, but…" Sebastian plopped himself on the kitchen table, rubbing his eyes. "Going to bed early just made me want to wake up early."

"Yeah, no duh," Lovino snapped, and then opened the door. "Come on, Feli. You're the one who's actually _happy_ about going to school."

"Is high school really that bad?" Sebastian piped up as Feliciano and Lovino were about to leave. "Because if so, can I stay in middle school?"

"Lovi's just being a sourpuss!" Feliciano replied, balking at the door to answer. "High school is actually really fun!"

"No, it isn't!" Lovino's voice called out outside. "It _sucks_!"

"It's not that bad!" Feliciano replied, and then turned and waved at Sebastian. "See ya!"

Sebastian waved back, and Feliciano walked out the door. Feliciano's and Lovino's voices were then heard in the kitchen, the two chatting loudly (well, chatting on Feliciano's side, arguing on Lovino's side) as they walked to high school.

* * *

The city of Blackview was of a medium size, compared to other American cities. The high school, however? _Tiny_.

That fact is largely evident when you walk in the courtyard of Blackview High School. No student is allowed inside the school before seven forty, which meant that large amounts of students, grade nine to twelve, are always seen milling around the commons area in front of the school.

This was the perfect time to hang out with friends, since lunch had a strict assigned seat policy (due to the amount of spontaneous food fights last year) and teachers and staff shooed kids away after school unless they had a club. It was also a great time to talk about school and compare homework answers or just copy them, depending on how 'busy' you were last night.

But for Feliciano, it was just a time to mill around and look busy, making sure to be close to others. Lovino would always leave to talk to his own friends, leaving Feliciano alone. He didn't have many friends to begin with, and his only friend always arrived after seven forty. It wasn't because he was antisocial, or he never tried; quite the opposite, actually.

It was more of his… eccentric personality.

He glanced up, and then brightened at the sight of a single, lone girl. She was sitting by the fence circling the school, looking bored at her phone. No one was beside her, and it didn't look like she was expecting someone.

Perfect to make friends with!

Feliciano quickly skipped towards the girl, not at all trying to keep discreet. The girl kept her attention on her phone, and he couldn't tell whether if she was deliberately ignoring him or if she actually wasn't aware of him. Nonetheless, he slid up next to the girl and he put on his charming smile.

"Hello there! The name's Feliciano, but everyone just calls me Feli! How's your day?" He had had plenty of practice talking to girls. After all, his grandfather regularly encouraged all of his grandsons to always be ready to make conversation, whether with a boy or a girl.

The girl paused in her texting, looking up at Feliciano. "Hmm?"

Feliciano struck out a hand. "Call me Feli!" He repeated, still grinning. "Want to be friends?"

She blinked once, not returning the hand and instead shifting uncomfortably in her seat. "… Oh. W-Well… I guess so."

"Really? Great!" He retracted his hand (he was used to it not being shaken, after all) and made himself comfortable on the grass. "I don't think I got your name, though! What is it?"

"It's… Um…" She glanced back at her phone, tapping it a few times before saying, "Ah, my boyfriend is here, I need to meet him…"

"Boyfriend?" Feliciano repeated, slightly surprised. No inviting her to tea, then…

Flustered, the girl hurriedly shoved her phone into her pocket, scrambling up. "It'd be best if you'd leave now. Bye." She walked away quickly, fixing her hair.

Feliciano watched her leave, frowning. The girl left in such a hurry, he didn't have time to strike a full conversation with her. What a shame. Sighing, he stood up, dusted of his trousers, and walked towards the middle of the commons, where other people were—

He bumped into someone, and he stumbled backwards.

"S-Sorry! I wasn't looking—"

The collar of his shirt was suddenly grabbed, and Feliciano's apology was cut short as he felt himself being lifted up slightly, coming face to face with another boy much older than he.

"You were the one who was hanging out with my girl!" The large boy yelled in Feliciano's face, absolutely steaming.

"I-I'm sorry!" Feliciano cried, putting up his hands in surrender as he tried to wiggle out of the boy's grip. "Please don't hurt me! I-I didn't do it!"

"I saw you, don't deny it!" He yelled back, bringing Feliciano closer to his face. "You were chatting up with her, when she was _obviously_ not enjoying it! Not to mention, she's taken! How dare you!"

"B-But I didn't know! I'm sorry! D-Don't hurt me, please let me go!"

The boy snorted. "Like hell I'd let you go! You're gonna have to pay for your crimes—"

"Hey dudes!"

Both Feliciano and the guy turned towards the voice, facing another boy around Feliciano's age.

"Bro, just let the guy go," the boy cut in, pushing up his glasses as he walked towards them. "I've seen him in class, he's practically harmless."

The other two were silent, staring at the boy. In the back of his mind, Feliciano recognized the boy as one of his classmates. He couldn't put a name to his face, though…

The older boy gritted his teeth. "And why should I—"

"Okay, yeah, he is a gigantic wuss," the younger boy interrupted coolly, "but seriously. He's harmless. Just let him go."

There was another moment of silence. Feliciano was wondering if the older boy would just ignore the younger one completely and just whale on Feliciano when the older boy roughly threw him down. He fell on the ground, landing awkwardly on his backpack.

"I see you with her again," the older boy threatened, staring down at Feliciano, "you're beyond dead." And with that, he stomped off in the other direction.

Feliciano rubbed his sore bottom, shifting his backpack so he wasn't sitting on it. He was about to stand up by himself before a hand stuck itself in front of his face; the hand from the boy who rescued him. Taking it, Feliciano was lifted up to his feet.

"Didn't the same thing happen yesterday too? Just with a different twelfth grader?" The boy asked with an exasperated tone, also picking up Feliciano's backpack and handing it to him. "Seriously, you need to learn how to man up."

Feliciano took his backpack gratefully, grinning. "It's usually not my fault, though—"

The boy's attention was already elsewhere, and he brightened when he saw someone. "Oh look, there's Artie! See ya, dude!" He took off, heading towards a cluster of arguing boys.

"— I'm just really… Flighty…" Feliciano trailed off, smile still persisting as he watched the running boy. He stood still for a moment, before shouldering his backpack.

A teacher shouted, and the school doors opened. Masses of kids started towards the door, and Feliciano went along with the flow of the students.

Two weeks into his tenth grade of school, and he hadn't made any new friends.

* * *

Feliciano had barely sat down in his desk before he was yelled at by the teacher. Again.

"Feliciano, where is your assignment from Thursday?" The teacher shouted, staring down Feliciano as he held his burgundy binder menacingly.

He whipped around, then smiled sheepishly. "Um… The one about frogs, right?"

"What else could it be?" The teacher snapped. No doubt, there was a foot tapping underneath that desk.

"It… It may or may not be done…" Feliciano kept smiling nervously, but inside he was absolutely freaking out. _Oh geez, please oh please I hope he doesn't flip out—_

The teacher slammed down his binder, which gained the attention of the other students in the room. "I gave you the whole weekend to finish it! A _whole_ weekend! How come it's not finished? Doing something teenager-y and idiotic?"

Feliciano had a _perfectly legitimate_ reason why he hadn't made up his work. There was his other homework, playing soccer with his brothers, chatting with the female customers in his grandfather's cafe, and so much more! He didn't do anything idiotic! Well, the soccer did go somewhat awry when Sebastian accidentally kicked the ball and it hit Lovino square in the chest…

Before Feliciano could explain, the school phone beside the teacher's desk rang loudly. With an annoyed sigh, the teacher snatched the phone and drawled, "Mr. Esquino's class."

A moment later, he raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He asked, his gaze briefly flickering towards the students. "Him? Are you sure?" He bit his lip, eyes narrowing as he heard the next bit. "Alright, fine." He hung up the phone, glaring directly at Feliciano. "You're needed at the principal's office. Now."

A few students pulled off an "Oooohh…" as Feliciano stared back at the teacher, confused. He could've sworn that he hadn't did anything wrong. Breaking from his teacher's gaze, he started to heft his belongings up before the teacher interrupted.

"Leave your stuff here."

Feliciano muttered a quick "sorry" as he set his belongings back down on his desk. He quickly walked out of the classroom, reentering the class to quickly grab a wooden pass before actually walking down the hallways.

Kids were still walking down the hallways, as class had not officially started. He stiffly ran through the halls, wooden pass hugged to his chest. The others ignored him, and he didn't pay any attention to them either.

Thoughts about the office filled his head. Feliciano was absolutely sure he wasn't in trouble; missing homework assignments couldn't warrant a visit from the principal! And he doubted the principal knew about this morning's incident, it was still quite too early. It had to be something else… But nothing came to Feliciano's mind.

Well, whatever it was, it couldn't be _that_ bad…

The door to the office was closed. Feliciano opened the door carefully, poking his head through.

The secretary looked up from her computer at the sound of the door opening, smiling at Feliciano. "Feli!" She greeted, pausing in her typing to look up at the boy. "It's nice to see you! Come in!"

The secretary, Miss Hadelina, was a good friend of Feliciano's, to the point in which she fondly called him by his nickname, unlike other adults. He had often gone to the principal's office last year for many reasons, and the two had grown fond of each other. After all, it was him who suggested to keep a bowl of lollipops on her desk for students, and whenever Feliciano was around, she would always gladly offer one.

Feliciano gave a little wave, entering the room. It served as a waiting place, a lobby of sorts, for children waiting for their turn with the principal. "Hi, Miss Hadelina!" He greeted back cheerfully, although he still kept his nervous face. "Do you know why I'm here?"

"Yes," she said simply, returning back to her computer. "I'm not allowed to say, however. Sit down."

Feliciano obliged, sitting down on one of the four chairs along the wall opposite of Miss Hadelina. "Oh? Why's that?" He asked, even more nervous. The last time she didn't tell him was when he was called in and asked if he wanted to switch schools because of his 'trouble' with the other students.

She didn't respond, continuing with her work. Feliciano didn't push the topic, even though he desperately wanted to. He just held the wooden pass in his lap, eyes wandering.

The door to the principal's room opened, and Feliciano looked up. His eyes widened, slightly surprised at what he saw.

The principal, a man in his forties, wasn't mad. He didn't even look concerned, which was what he usually looked when meeting Feliciano. No, he was actually _happy_. And with the principal, that was rare. Beside him was a boy, talking softly with the principal. The boy, a black backpack on his shoulder and multiple papers in his arms, looked about Feliciano's age, despite being quite tall and too spiffy for a student, from the gelled blond hair and clean white shirt with a tie.

He couldn't possibly be a student. No, he had to be a strict teacher who would yell at Feliciano just for his casual wear and messy hair. And maybe missing homework.

Definitely the missing homework.

The principal turned to Feliciano, and he beamed. When was the last time the principal had beamed at him? "Ah, Feliciano! I'm glad you're here, I'd like to introduce you to a new student that's going to attend tenth grade with you."

The boy stepped cautiously towards Feliciano, and then looked back at the principal, unsure. The principal nodded, sending an encouraging smile. Feliciano was about to question it in his mind before the boy stuck out a stiff hand.

"Ludwig," the boy said tersely, blue eyes looking away as he tensed up. "Ludwig Beilschmidt."

Feliciano stared at Ludwig, gulping. This guy scared him, with how formal and stiffly he talked! But not wanting to look rude, he took the hand and shook it.

"Feliciano," he replied, giving his own smile. Maybe if he acted friendly, this boy would loosen up a little. "But call me Feli, if you want. Most people do, anyway. It's sort of a thing, except for teachers and other adults, since they like to be all formal and stuff-"

"Anyway," the principal cut in, before Feliciano could ramble further, "Ludwig has been homeschooled for most of his life, before joining here in the same high school his older brother attends. You might have heard of Gilbert Beilschmidt…?"

"Oh! I have," Feliciano said, grinning. "My brother talks about him a lot." Truth be told, Lovino _complained_ about him a lot, along with two others named Antonio and Francis. But despite his complaining everyday after school, Lovino seemed to be in good terms with the trio, especially Antonio.

"Fantastic! You'll hit it off great then!" The principal beamed. "Your schedules should mirror each other's, so go off to your first class! Off you go!" He shooed them out of the office, both of them exiting, but not before Feliciano grabbed two lollipops, Miss Hadelina sent him a joking smirk as he passed the doorway. Once they were both out, the door shut behind them.

Feliciano held up the two lollipops, inspecting the wrappers. Cotton candy and green apple. He grimaced; green apple was his least favorite.

"So…"

Feliciano yelped, hiding the lollipops behind his back. He relaxed when he found it was only Ludwig, but tensed up again under his steely gaze. Did he always look so serious?

Ludwig shifted the papers in his arms around, as if he would rather not be holding them. "Are we going to science first?"

"Yeah," Feliciano nodded, feeling awkward. He pointed down the hallway. "It's this way. Um… Follow me."

He started walking, and Ludwig followed.

No one was in the halls other than the two, so the silence was suffocating. Desperate to break it, Feliciano said the first thing that popped in his mind: "Want my lollipop?"

Ludwig paused. "What?"

Feliciano whirled around and held out the green candy. "I don't like green apple much, so you can have it. And don't worry, I already have a lollipop."

Ludwig glanced at the stick, before hesitantly taking it. "Um, sure."

Feliciano took out the cotton candy lollipop, unwrapped it, and stuck it in his mouth. "Come on," he said around the lollipop, continuing his walk, "the teacher doesn't like me much, so we have to hurry."

"You're already eating it?" Ludwig asked, walking faster to catch up. "Won't the teacher yell at you?"

"He might, but I have to eat it now, or else I'm going to forget about it." He grinned. "You can eat yours too."

Ludwig looked down at his lollipop. "... Maybe later." He was about to put it in his pants pocket, but changed his mind and instead shoved it in a side backpack pocket, making a mental note to eat it later.

Rounding a corner, they soon stopped by a door. Feliciano put a hand on the handle, but didn't open it. Instead, he grinned at Ludwig. "You know, you should meet my other friend! I think he'd like you!"

Ludwig looked through the door window. A man was pointing at visuals on the blackboard. "Is he in this class?"

"No, but he runs an amazing club after school tomorrow! You should come!"

Feliciano kept smiling, holding his breath for the yes. But instead…

"I… I don't think I can come," Ludwig replied, looking away. "My father or brother might want me after school."

Feliciano's face fell. "Oh, okay." He then smiled hopefully. "Maybe next week? I really want you to know him."

Ludwig paused, thinking. "... Maybe."

"Great!" Feliciano exclaimed, smile widening. "I'll tell him tomorrow. I really think you'll enjoy the club!"

Smile still there, he opened the door to the class.

* * *

 **Feliciano - N. Italy**

 **Lovino - S. Italy**

 **Romulus - Ancient Rome**

 **Sebastian - Seborga**

 **Ludwig - Germany**

* * *

 **In which half of the characters introduced here are unimportant OCs. Except Miss Hadelina. She's** _ **somewhat**_ **important.**

 **I'm really sorry about how late this is! I got a bit of trouble finishing this, since it's a bit long. Not sure if the next chapter will be quite as long, but it just might. You never know when I'm writing.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Leave any type of feedback down in the reviews! Can't wait to see you in the next one~!**


	2. Silent, Yet Loud Mind

_**Kiku**_

"Now, homework for tonight is to read the next ten pages…"

Kiku kept on doodling on his notebook, video game and anime characters alike filling the margins of the paper.

"... And to summarize all we have read in a single paragraph, either written or typed up…"

Currently, a half-finished Edward Elric was battling a countering Marth, underneath a cherry blossom tree planted by an Animal Crossing villager and Sebastian, with Hikaru, Kaoru, and a bunch of Florges poking out of the leaves.

"... Highlighting the main ideas and characters. This will all be due tomorrow- _OI!_ Just because school's about to end doesn't mean you can pack up!"

Kiku glanced up, surprised that almost everyone else were out of their seats and packing up papers and a novel in their binders. He then glanced briefly at his own desk, with only his notebook and an untouched novel, _Great Expectations_ , on top of his closed binder.

He quickly flipped through the book. How had he not noticed it placed on his desk? Moreover, how had he not noticed the book being read without being called on? It was obvious he was drawing and not reading.

Sighing, Kiku closed his notebook, ready to pack up as well. Then something startling dawned on him: where had they stopped? Read the next ten pages, the teacher said, but from where?

The bell rang, and students practically leapt out of their seats like wound springs towards the door, and loud chatter from the students in and out of the room filled the surrounding atmosphere. Two especially loud boys argued with each other while they exited, until the teacher snapped at them to hush.

Kiku hurriedly packed all his stuff, then approached the teacher timidly.

"Um… Ma'am?" Kiku asked quietly, the binder in his hand shifting to being held in both arms and covering his chest.

The teacher glanced up from her paperwork, then smiled. "Kiku! How may I help you?"

"W-Well…" _How do I say this...?_ "I didn't… Well, I lost my page, and I don't know where we stopped for the book."

The teacher's smile turned into a sympathetic one. "Page twenty-three, Kiku. You'll read to page thirty-three, although I believe the chapter ends in a later page. I hope you took notes."

"Of course," Kiku replied, a sinking feeling in his gut. They took notes as well?

"Great. Is that it?"

Kiku nodded, hefting the binder higher up.

"Well, have a nice afternoon!" The teacher grinned, red pen clicking. "See you tomorrow, Kiku!"

"You too," Kiku automatically responded, bowing his head before turning around and running out the door.

The halls were still quite loud and had a lot of students, and Kiku had to bob and weave to avoid bumping into anyone. His locker was far from his language arts class, so it was quite a walk there. It wasn't near the entrance either, but that didn't matter today.

When he came to his locker, he twisted the lock hastily, packed his stuff, and silently scolded himself for not paying attention in class: _Come on, Kiku! You only doodle at home!_ His bag on his shoulder, he shut the locker and walked towards the east side of the school. The hallways had thinned out, fewer students congesting the hallways, so it was immensely easier for Kiku to traverse through.

It took longer to walk to his destination than he had expected, but he wasn't exactly next to it either, like last year. Without so much glancing at the mini plaque next to the door, which read _**218 - 10th Grade LA - Mr. Kontesta**_ , Kiku entered the classroom.

"Oh, Kiku! Welcome back!"

Startled, Kiku almost dropped his bag on his shoulders. He glanced towards the teacher's desk, relaxing when it was only his language arts teacher from last year. From the looks of it, he was packing his own bag, sliding papers in his briefcase.

"Hi," he greeted, giving a little wave.

"How's life as an eleventh grader?" The teacher asked cheerfully, smiling fondly on Kiku.

Kiku just shrugged. _It's the same as tenth grade, somewhat._

Mr. Kontesta continued placing papers in his bag. "Don't suppose it's easier than last year, no? But with a genius like you, I doubt you'll have trouble."

Again, Kiku shrugged again, but his heart was slightly warmed from the compliment.

Zipping his briefcase up, Mr. Kontesta grinned at Kiku. "Well, just because I'm not your teacher anymore, doesn't mean you can't contact me at all. My email's in the school directory."

"Thank you," Kiku replied, unsure on how else to reply.

The teacher walked across the room to the door, waving. "See you, Kiku! Happy clubbing!" He opened the door and exited.

Kiku set his bag on one of the circular group tables, sitting down on a chair. He zipped his bag open, taking out three manga volumes and a magazine. When he reached in again, he reminded himself that he didn't have his laptop; it was back home. He instead just closed his bag again and set it aside.

The Anime-Manga Club started, having its first meeting of the year. Hopefully, the club would be devoid of any major chaos.

The origin of the club was very simple: last year, his parents had insisted that he be in a club to "get out of his shell", but all the pre-existing clubs were all of subjects he had little interest in. The solution? Make his own club. He never advertised the existence of his new club, and no one except him had attended it in his language arts class-

The door opened with a bang. A flustered student entered, sliding into a chair in the same table as Kiku's.

"Hey, Kiku!" Feliciano gasped, wiping some sweat off his brow as he dropped his backpack and lunchbox on the floor. "Sorry I'm late!"

\- until Feliciano came. The ninth grader at the time had slipped in, in an attempt to hide from some angry students he had accidentally provoked, immediately diving under a table. Kiku had been watching some Black Butler, but feeling your legs grabbed suddenly while watching an unsettling scene in this anime was not the best situation to be in.

When Feliciano finally came out from under the table, Kiku realized in horror that he had accidentally kicked Feliciano's face and his nose was bleeding. After a quick visit to the school nurse, Kiku expected Feliciano to immediately leave and determinedly avoid him, but instead, he asked for the oddest thing: permission to join his club. He wanted to hide from the students he had provoked, and seeing as he had already intruded on Kiku's club, Feliciano saw it best to hide in there.

And Kiku, unable to refuse by school rules, reluctantly complied.

"Hey, Feli," Kiku greeted, taking a book and opening the cover. The black-and-white Fairy Tail logo decorated the inside page.

"Did you bring your laptop?" Feliciano asked, taking a book himself and flipping through it. "I _really_ want to watch that one anime about the pirates. Please?"

"I didn't bring my laptop," Kiku answered. "I'll bring it next week."

Feliciano gasped, setting the manga volume down with a painful knock. "Oh, that reminds me!" He closed the book and put it to the side, putting on a big grin. "See, I met this new student yesterday, and he was really nice, although he looks scary, but I had to show him around school, and he's really nice! He's kinda like you, because he doesn't talk a lot and he prefers to be alone and he has a brother! Although, he only has one, unlike you."

"Really?" Kiku continued reading, flipping a page. Feliciano had always loved to talk about his life whenever he came in the club, and Kiku learned a long time ago that there was no stopping him once he started talking.

Feliciano nodded, grinning. "Yeah! So, yesterday, I really saw how you two were so alike, so I invited him to the club!"

"That's nice- Wait, _what_?" Kiku whipped his gaze from the manga to Feliciano, staring. "You _what_?"

"Don't worry, he may look scary, but I bet you'll make amazing friends!" He continued, unaware of his friend's shocked expression. "We'll have to show him all your manga! Do you suppose he'll like this one? Or maybe this one?" Holding up two separate manga volumes, he continued gushing about the new student and what he would like as Kiku continued staring. He had explicitly created the club so he can continue being alone. It already had one too many members in it than he liked, did it really need another?

 _I guess it will..._

"Um..." He mumbled quietly, inwardly sighing and turning back to his manga. Feliciano had slowed down his excited ramble, and he opened the book he had previously and started reading as well, although he was still a little antsy and kept moving in his seat and giving remarks about the manga and his summer.

But otherwise, the club was silent as Kiku thought about the new kid, the letter, and his family.

* * *

Another perk about the club that Kiku hadn't foreseen was a chance to stay out of his house. Especially since Kiku was a reclusive introvert, and the fact that his family was large and loud and suited for extroverts not at all like Kiku.

The walk between the bus stop and his house on Tuesday afternoons was bliss, as he didn't have to walk with his siblings unlike the mornings and other afternoons. Kiku enjoyed them as best as he could, as they only happened once a week in the school year. This one was more enjoyable than the others, mostly because he had somewhat forgotten what it was like from the long summer break.

It also made him more reluctant to open the door of his home and end the calm before the storm. He stood outside the house, hand on the handle, for a few seconds before opening the already unlocked door.

"Kiku's hooooooome~!"

He had only taken one step before he was tackled into a hug, making him stumble back in shock from the sudden weight. It was then removed, as he stood frozen in front of one of his younger brothers.

"Seriously, Kiku," Yong Soo playfully pouted, crossing his arms, "you were gone for so long, I was getting bored of bothering Aniki!"

An irritated sigh sounded from the side, and Kiku turned to see his older brother, Yao, glare at Yong Soo from the couch. He had books and papers surrounding him, and the pencil which he held like a dagger in his hand was pointed at Yong Soo. " _How_ many times have I told you not to call me that?"

Yong Soo puffed out a cheek in mock thought. "Hmm… I dunno. A couple thousand and one times?"

Shaking off his frozen state, Kiku quietly snuck around his arguing brothers and almost reached the staircase until he heard another voice:

"Kiku, you're home?"

His stepfather smiled to him as he stood in front of the stove, cooking what looked like stir fry in a wok. He flipped some vegetables in the air with a spatula as he continued, "Were you at that club of yours?"

"Yes," Kiku replied, nodding as he faced the staircase. It was his stepfather's original idea for him to join a club last year, of course he would ask.

"Your mother is out, if you're wondering." He focused back on the wok, glasses slipping down his nose as looked down. "She'll be back before dinner." The hand holding the spatula went up to push up his glasses as he turned behind him. "Mei, is the rice ready?"

"Six minutes!" A feminine voice announced, as Kiku's only sister walked towards her father to see Kiku, and she smiled. "Oh hey Kiku!"

Kiku waved in response, and started climbing the stairs.

"Oh yeah, Kiku!" Yong Soo shouted as Kiku walked up. "Niko's under your bed and refuses to come out. I think Pochi scared him or something."

"Pochi can't scare anyone," Yao retorted, now focused back on his homework. "Niko's just- Hey! Nia!" He picked up the brown-and-white cat off of a book and threw her off to the side. "Stay off, I'm doing homework!"

Yong Soo made another teasing quip towards Yao, but Kiku didn't hear it as he walked down the hallway leading to the many rooms on the second floor. Through one of them, he could see Leon, the youngest sibling, on the shared laptop in the room he shared with Yao, with Nyx, another cat, sitting on his lap. Kiku passed by his parent's room before entering the bedroom he shared with Yong Soo at the end of the hall and closing the door.

He placed his bag on the ground and kneeled on the ground, looking under his bed. Sure enough, Niko was sitting against the wall under the bed, more than an arm's length away from Kiku. Niko's ears perked up at the sight of his master, and he slowly padded towards Kiku until he was out of the bed, looking innocently up at him with wide, brown eyes.

Kiku smiled, scratching the small cat. "Niko…" He lifted Niko up to his bed, then sitting himself on the bed himself.

The tiny Japanese Bobtail, along with Nia and Nyx, were cats that his parents got the children six years ago, when they had moved in together. His mother had married his stepfather at that time, and the three - Kiku, his mother, and Yong Soo, his only biological sibling - moved into a larger house and a larger family. Even though Kiku and Yong Soo had Pochi, their tiny Shiba puppy at the time, the three cats were added to the family a month after they moving in.

Kiku had always been a quiet child back then, in contrast to his younger brother, who was always loud and boisterous. Moving in with a louder family was somewhat of a shock to young Kiku, who was convinced that nothing could be louder than his brother. It was even more of a shock to see that his new stepfather, Cheng Wang, was the perfect picture of calm, very unlike his three children. Yao could get very sarcastic at times, Mei could be very angsty and perfectly happy at the snap of the fingers, and Leon… Was Leon. There were times Kiku could relate to Leon's introverted behaviors, but most of the time he was egging on the sass-offs between siblings.

While Yong Soo fit in perfectly, easily annoying his step siblings and feeling at home upon arrival, Kiku felt like a stranger among the other kids. And even now, six years later and in eleventh grade, Kiku was usually alone… Frankly, he was enjoying it.

Niko climbed into Kiku's lap, meowed once, and started rubbing his head against Kiku's chest. Kiku, in return, started rubbing him.

Out of the three cats, Niko was the oddest. Just like Kiku, Niko was a quiet cat who only enjoyed Kiku's company. While Nyx and Nia would hang out with the other members of the family, Niko would isolate himself in Kiku's room, only coming out at mealtimes. He would interact with the other cats at times, sometimes even Pochi, but would avoid the other humans like the plague.

Kiku heard the door to his room open, and he looked up. His mom looked back at him, a small smile on her face.

"Hi," Kiku greeted, sitting up straighter on his bed as his mother came in and sat on his bed.

His mother, Kim-Lyn, was a strong-willed woman, passing down her calm personality to Kiku and her headstrong attitude to Yong Soo. She was the only person Kiku truly trusted in the family, her quiet yet determined presence comforting in the whirlwind of noise in the house. Without her, Kiku wasn't sure on how he would have survived the first few years in the new house.

"Hey, Kiku," she replied, making herself comfortable on the bed. Her gaze drifted down to Niko, who was trying to shy away from the woman. "How come you're not downstairs?"

"I just came home." _And I'd rather stay here than go downstairs_ , he thought inwardly. _Hang out with Niko._

She nodded. "I see." Her head lifted at the sound of a crash downstairs, which was accompanied with arguing, and she regained that small smile again. "I believe dinner's ready."

"We're having stir fry," Kiku agreed, hugging Niko. He could hear Yong Soo shouting at Yao and Yao shouting back, with Mei yelling for them to calm down. _Yong Soo's probably enjoying himself._

His mother placed a hand on Kiku's crossed leg, squeezing gently. "Come on. Let's go downstairs."

She got herself off the bed and walked towards the door, Kiku following behind. Niko settled himself on Kiku's bed, curling up and falling asleep as the two left the room.

As Kiku entered the kitchen-dining room, he saw that the table was already set with a large ceramic container holding the stir fry and the rice cooker filled with rice. The cooker was in the possession of Yong Soo, who was piling scoops of rice on his plate.

Mei raised an eyebrow at Yong Soo, who was sitting between Yao and Leon. "You're gonna get fat with all that rice."

"No I won't," Yong Soo insisted, adding a third scoop of rice. "You can't get fat on rice!"

"You can get fat on anything," Leon protested, looking bored. "Rice included."

Yong Soo snorted, handing the cooker to his mother. "Please, who eats rice by itself? Answer: no one. No one, not ever."

"Lots of sumo wrestlers ate rice by itself," Yao argued, reaching for the stir fry. "They ate it before matches."

"And guess how fat they are," Leon added, twirling his fork around.

Yong Soo was about to make a witty retort, before their father interrupted, "I know you boys like arguing, but let's change topics. How was school today?"

Mei sighed in relief, not exactly a fan of the arguments either. "Well, I guess it was okay."

"The classes are kinda hard," Leon remarked, getting a thoughtful look on his face. "But it's better than middle school."

"Some teacher thought me and Mei were twins," Yong Soo snickered, accepting the stir fry from his stepfather. "Just because we're in tenth grade together."

"Well, that's certainly odd," their mother commented, spearing a vegetable on her plate. "How about you, Yao? More homework?"

Yao exhaled in distaste, affirming her question. "Physics, calculus, and world history. Not to mention that the other people I'm partnered with in advanced civics are all irresponsible. At least, this one tenth grade idiot is."

Yong Soo snickered again. "You're in the same class as a _tenth_ grader, Aniki? Wow, I didn't know."

Yao flashed a hot glare towards him. "It has students from tenth through twelfth grade. I need the elective credit."

Their father sent a warning glance to Yao, before turning to Kiku. "And you, Kiku? How was your club?"

Kiku glanced up, surprised. He had been hoping that he could avoid the dinner talk. "It was fine," he finally replied, after a moment's consideration. "We… Read a lot."

"Isn't that all you do, though?" Mei asked, eating a spoonful of rice and swallowing. "Read manga and stuff?"

"We also watch," Kiku offered. When could he be out of the conversation?

Leon looked up at Kiku, taking a quick drink of water. "You need the laptop on Tuesdays now?"

Kiku nodded, turning back to his dinner.

"Dibs on the laptop tomorrow," Yong Soo quickly said, shoving a piece of chicken in his mouth.

"Wednesdays are _your_ days," Yao pointed out, looking at Yong Soo strangely. "You traded days with Father two weeks ago, remember?"

Yong Soo stared at Yao for a moment, putting some rice in his mouth, then mumbled an answer through the food in his mouth.

"Yong Soo…" Their mother lightly scolded.

"Yeah, I said yeah," he protested once his mouth was clear of food. "So I get it tomorrow, right?"

" _Yes_ ," Yao impatiently sighed, taking his glass and downing all the water. "May I be excused? I have homework."

"Me too," Kiku agreed, scooping the last piece of stir fry into his mouth as he gathered his own dishes.

"Of course," their father smiled. "Make sure you finish it all."

"Mmhm." A brief smile flickered over Yao's face, always striving to make his father proud. Just like Kiku for his mother.

The two silently put their dishes in the sink and went their separate ways - Yao to the couch, Kiku to his room - ignoring the resuming chatter at the table.

* * *

Niko's head went up when Kiku flicked on the lights. Kiku grabbed his bag and plopped it on the bed, zipping it open. He took out the various books and his binder required to finish his homework, plus some pencils and pens.

Niko had taken an interest of the _Great Expectations_ book, sniffing the plastic cover and curiously looking at the cover. He backed away when Kiku reached for the book, Kiku flipping through the thick book. Tiny lettering decorated the inside of the book, and Kiku sighed. Thirty three pages of note taking, then summarizing them into a paragraph. _Why did I doodle in class again?_

He glanced out the window. There was still some light outside, the sun not quite below the horizon.

He weighed his options. They wouldn't be done with dinner for a while. Perhaps he could just peruse it, find out what it was about. Shrugging, he grabbed his bag and packed the book, some paper, and a pencil and went to the window, slinging the bag over his shoulder.

He opened it all the way, the window being like the ones you'd slide open. Kicking a step stool in front of the window, he stepped on it and placed his hands on the top of the window, careful to not let the bag swing him out of balance. One foot climbed on the bottom sill of the window, then the other.

He was glad that the neighboring house didn't have a window on the same floor facing his side, or else he would've gotten looks about how insane he looked.

Kiku swung himself on the fire escape, placing each limb with care. Once both his hands and feet were on the ladder, he climbed the short ways to the slightly tilted, but otherwise flat, roof. There was already a navy blue mat laying on the roof, and Kiku scrambled onto the mat to keep from sliding off.

Only he and Yong Soo knew about the roof spot, and Kiku was the only one who used it now, Yong Soo too tall for it now. Kiku only used it in late evenings and nights to reduce the chance of being found out, but it was a great place when you wanted to be truly alone or you just want to stargaze what stars are still in the sky.

If Yong Soo were to come in their room, he would automatically assume Kiku was on the roof. If their parents came in, they'd assume he was in the bathroom. Not many people bothered to look up when they were out, and so far he was the only one who used the roof as a resting place. He wouldn't be bothered up here.

Placing the bag beside him, he grabbed _Great Expectations_ and started looking through it. At times, his mind wandered, and he would just look at the sunset for a little while before reminding him that he had to focus. _Come on, it's not so hard…_ Eventually, he was able to push his thoughts aside and focus completely on the book.

He stayed there until the sun had set, allowing him to read all the pages required and get some notes done before he had to go back. Yong Soo entered their room twice, but for the most part he was too focused on getting out of his own work to bother Kiku.

Once Kiku was all done with homework, where he discovered it was well past ten, he got ready to go to bed. All the while, he thought about the future of his club.

 _Another person. Can I deal with another person?_

He asked Niko. Niko just yawned and buried his face in Kiku's chest. When Pochi came inside the room briefly, Kiku questioned him as well, but Pochi just licked his fingers in a comforting way.

 _I hope he doesn't bring too much chaos. That's all I hope._

* * *

 **Kiku Honda - Japan**

 **Feliciano Vargas - North Italy**

 **Yong Soo Im Honda - South Korea**

 **Yao Wang - China**

 **Mei Xiao Wang - Taiwan**

 **Kaoru "Leon" Wang - Hong Kong, China**

 **Cheng Wang - Macau, China**

 **Kim-Lyn Chun-Honda - Vietnam**

 **Niko - JapanCat**

 **Nia - Female! ItalyCat**

 **Nyx - GermanyCat**

 **Pochi - Japan's Shiba dog**

 _ **((I know that some of the characters have different last names, therefore they are now the characters' middle names. And I know that JapanCat has Tama as its canon name, but the cats are named this way for a reason.))**_

* * *

" **Hey! I can totally do the Asian family in this story!"**

 ***looks up stuff on the wiki for relationships***

" **... Um."**

 **So hey, I had a small amount of canon characters last chapter, have a bucketload of them now. Plus some pets. If this chapter is at all confusing, please tell me. I feel like this would be confusing. And yeah, a bunch of these names that aren't canon will be totally headcanons.**

 **And Macau x Vietnam is totally legit now. … Does this count as an official ship? Because they're adults and stuff… And I don't want OCs to be the parents. It's totally crack and unimportant anyway, I guess you can ignore it…?**

 **Review all ya want! I want to thank** Seele Esser Deutsch **for being my first ever reviewer! You're amazing. Just wanna say that.**


	3. Distance and Memories

_**Ludwig**_

 _When he gained consciousness, he kept his eyes closed, flinching slightly at the harsh light filtering through his eyelids._

 _He felt… Hot. And odd. His entire mind was blank, he couldn't remember a thing. No name, no image, no thought came to his head; he could only sense the light, the odd texture beneath his fingertips, a slight headache, and the measured breaths racking his chest, disturbing the hot heaviness buried deep inside._

 _Soon, he got used to the light. He decided to open his eyes, maybe then he could remember something. Slowly, he blinked his eyes open, involuntary gritting his teeth as more light entered his vision._

 _White. All the items around him were some shade of dirty white. The cot he was on, the thin sheet covering him, the walls and ceiling sheltering him, the white lilies in a white vase sitting on the unusually brown table beside a white door. His mind reeled as he remembered the names of these common objects easily. Why could he remember their names when he couldn't remember his own?_

 _His gaze shifted to the left, and he received a new burst of color: wide, red eyes stared at him in numb shock, belonging to a young boy with colorful clothes and a black phone in his trembling, pale white hands. Hands, as white as the room. Was… Was that normal?_

" _You're_ alive _?" The pale boy finally asked, utterly shocked. His hands shook more._

 _This boy seemed painfully familiar, and yet no name came to mind._

" _Oh my God, you're alive!" The boy launched and hugged him, his whole body shuddering. "You… You_ really _scared me. Don't ever do that again!" He started sobbing, clutching him tighter. Even in the stranger's embrace, he felt at peace._

 _He tried lifting his own arms to hug him, but the boy lifted himself up to stare with wet eyes._

" _I mean, after what happened to… T-To Mutti, I thought…" The boy raked a hand through his shiny, white hair, averting his eyes. When he lifted his eyes again, his face was streaming tears. "I-I have to tell Vati. He was sobbing after he found out Mutti had died, and…" The boy sniffed, rubbing his face to clear his tears. "H-He'd be so happy… Oh God, West. You scared me."_

 _Before he could question the boy and the possible name of 'West', the door opened. A man in a white lab coat entered, his gaze fixed to his clipboard. "Gilbert, visiting hours are over-"_

" _He woke up!" The boy - was Gilbert his name? - shouted joyously, a hand reaching to grip the other's. "I told you he'd wake up today!"_

 _The doctor glanced up, and a small smile appeared on his face upon seeing him. "Ah, Ludwig. Finally decided to wake up, hmm?"_

" _L… Ludwig?" He managed to croak, his voice hoarse. It sounded unfamiliar, unlike Gilbert's voice. Well, at least he had a name. These two obviously know him, maybe he could ask some questions._

 _Gilbert frowned, looking up to the doctor. "What's up with his voice?"_

 _The doctor strode over, scribbling notes on his clipboard with great earnest. "Well, he hasn't used it for a week. Coupled with being put on IVs and not receiving proper food and drink, it's no surprise that he sounds like that."_

 _Gilbert puffed out his cheeks in boredom at the doctor's explanation, but he brightened when he faced Ludwig. "Anyway, now that you're finally alive, you can come home with us! Everyone back home was worried sick about you. Vati especially will be so happy when you come home!"_

 _Ludwig blinked at Gilbert's rapid-paced talking. Who exactly was 'everyone'? And… "Who's Vati?"_

 _Gilbert's wide smile faltered a bit. "He's… He's Vati," he said uncertainly, giving an odd look. "What do you mean, 'who's Vati?' He's… Vati."_

" _But…" That doesn't answer the question. Who was he?_

 _The doctor looked down at Ludwig with interest, his face neutral. "Ah." He placed his clipboard down as he went to grab a chair from the closet on the other side of the room. "Trouble remembering names. Normal for concussions. However…" Plucking a folding chair, he shut the closet door and started unfolding it as he strode to Ludwig. "Due to the severity of the injury… It's possible that this might extend further from names."_

 _Gilbert stared at the doctor. "Wait… Are you saying West might not…"_

 _The doctor placed the chair down and sat upon it. He then looked up and glared at Gilbert. "I believe it's time for you to leave. It's…" He glanced at his watch. "Exactly five. Visiting hours are over."_

" _What? But West-!" Gilbert started protesting, growing panicked._

" _He'll be fine," the doctor assured, glare softening a bit. "You might see him again tomorrow."_

" _But I want to-" He glanced down at Ludwig, who only stared back. Honestly, Ludwig wanted Gilbert to stay. He trusted Gilbert a lot more than the doctor on answering his questions. But Gilbert just sighed and squeezed Ludwig's hand, then released and went to exit the room._

" _You know the way?-"_

" _Yes," Gilbert said without looking back, opening the door and exiting, shutting the door with a bit of a bang._

 _The doctor sighed, a sympathetic smile on his face. "You're lucky to have a brother like him. One truly worried about you."_

 _Ludwig turned to face the doctor, eyes slightly wide. "He's my brother?" Well, no wonder he felt comfortable in his presence. They probably had a deep bond._

 _The doctor paused, looking at Ludwig oddly. "... Yes, he is," he said slowly. He grabbed his clipboard and pen and made a note. "Now, how much do you remember- well, despite the information presented to you by your brother and I?"_

" _... N-Nothing. I… Can't remember anything." He coughed twice, his throat slightly sore._

 _The doctor nodded, writing more notes. "Truly? Nothing on your life? Not even a passing notion? Such as… How old you are? Family relations? Memories of you as a younger child?"_

 _Ludwig shook his head._

" _Flashing images? Odd voices?"_

 _Another shake of the head._

 _The doctor exhaled in a worried way, looking disheartened, but as if he expected this. "So you… Remember nothing." He wrote it down, slightly grimacing. "Nothing… At… All."_

* * *

The lunchroom seating plan, while enforced quite harshly, was slightly lenient. It was organized by last name, putting twenty kids per fifteen tables. The last table had twenty-three students instead, housing extra students. There were two separate lunches two separate times during the day, back-to-back to each other.

Ludwig was in the first lunch; the same lunch as Feliciano, who he sat with for his first four days at the school, and his brother Gilbert.

His last name, Beilschmidt, meant he was supposed to be at the third table. It housed mostly students with last names starting with B, plus kids with C. The school had said that he should start sitting in the correct table, as he was getting used to the school more, and didn't require a guide anymore.

Gripping his already paid for lunch tray, Ludwig walked slowly to the table.

As he passed the fourteenth table, he saw Feliciano wave at him excitedly. Ludwig waved back. Upon receiving the news that Ludwig couldn't sit with him anymore, Feliciano was a bit bummed out, but he quickly regained his smile and said to 'say hi for Antonio for me!'

Then he saw his brother, along with two others opposite of him, talking quite loudly, and he made his way toward them. Gilbert noticed him coming, and he beckoned him over.

"Okay, so guys, this is my _awesome_ younger brother West!" He crowed as Ludwig sat beside him. "He's new here, so make him welcome to our school!"

"Gilbert, please," Ludwig sighed, but he smiled nonetheless, "I've been here since the start of the week."

One of the boys, a sunny teen with a wide smile, struck out a hand. "Hey, welcome to highschool! My name's Antonio, and he," he pointed to the boy next to him, who looked slightly feminine with the way his blond hair reached past his chin, "is Francis."

Ludwig shook his hand, then shook Francis's when he put out his own hand. "So…" Francis started, twirling home-cooked pasta with his fork. "Freshman or sophomore?"

"Sophomore," Ludwig replied, starting his own lunch. It was pizza with corn. "That's tenth, right?"

"Mmhm," he affirmed, taking a bite. "How come you haven't been sitting here the past week? Rules and all."

"I had a guide." Ludwig pointed to Feliciano's table. "Feli. I sat with him."

Antonio's eyes widened. "Wait… Feliciano Vargas? Oh, I know his brother!" He turned towards the other table, pointing to a boy next to Feliciano. "Lovi! We're friends."

" _Begrudging_ friends," Gilbert amended, smiling slyly. "The poor boy was all alone a couple years ago, and Toni being Toni, swooped in and vowed to be best friends."

"And I am!" Antonio said proudly. "Even though he denies it!"

"Isn't Feli the one who keeps on getting into fights?" Francis asked. "Except he can't fend for himself? Needs someone else to break it up?"

"Yes," Ludwig sighed, recalling yesterday morning in his mind. He was there when Feliciano accidentally tripped and knocked over an older boy, almost inciting a brawl before Ludwig and another boy, the latter being a friend of the other boy.

Antonio took a bite of his pizza. "How come I've never seen you at school before? Well, obviously you're new, but why weren't you here before?"

"Homeschool," both Gilbert and Ludwig said at the same time. It was like an automatic reflex. When Gilbert realized what they did, he shouted "Jinx!" with a grin.

"Homeschool?" Antonio questioned, confused. "How come you were homeschooled and Gilbert went to public?"

Ludwig paused, unable on how to answer. Gilbert, however, answered without missing a beat: "West did go to school when we were younger; you probably just didn't notice him. He's kinda that silent kid. West just kinda had to be homeschooled for a while."

Francis chuckled. "What's with the 'West' nickname? I just find it a bit… Odd."

Again, Gilbert answered for Ludwig, the words smooth. "Oh, it's just a thing we used to do when we were younger. Someone thought it would be funny to nickname us all in the daycare after nature stuff, and me, West, and two other boys got the cardinal directions. I was East, he was West. West here just doesn't call me East anymore because he says we're too old." He slung an arm around Ludwig. "I just say 'Screw it!'"

Antonio and Francis laughed, and soon the topic deviated into what they were going to do for the weekend, all three junior boys putting their input. Ludwig, however, kept silent, still in slight awe with the story. _So, that's the origin story, then?…_

He didn't really talk for the rest of the lunchtime, just letting his brother and his friends talk. If he was suddenly brought back into the conversation through a question asked by his brother's friends (Do anything special on the weekend? Was homeschool really boring? Any sports you enjoy?) were mostly answered by Gilbert, although Ludwig gave his answer at times.

The end of lunch soon came, and as Gilbert and Ludwig went up to put away their trays, Ludwig whispered, "So, that's the story behind it?"

"Yeah. You were amazing at soccer in kindergarten," Gilbert chuckled, mushing some pizza crust on his tray together. "You practically wiped the floor-"

"Not _that_ ," Ludwig huffed. He slid the tray to a waiting lunchlady. "My nickname. 'West'. It really just came from someone who wanted to nickname us?"

"Yeah." Gilbert then turned to Ludwig, startled. "Wait, you mean I never told you the start of your awesome nickname? Ever?"

Ludwig shook his head.

Gilbert slid his own tray to the lunchlady, biting his lip. "Dang. Not even at the hospital visits?" He didn't wait for an answer, instead just laughing in embarrassment. "Wow. You must have been really confused. Sorry."

"It's okay," Ludwig shrugged. He certainly didn't mind the nickname, even if he never got it until now. The two drifted away from the tray drop-off and towards the lunchroom entrance, where most kids were leaving already.

He was about to say more to his brother, before he heard a voice shouting his name:

"Luuuuudy! Hey, Ludwig! Ludwig!" Feliciano shouted from the distance, waving his arms ecstatically. "Wait for me, will you?"

Ludwig gave a quick wave of confirmation while Gilbert chuckled behind him. "Wow, he _really_ acts different from his brother."

Ludwig turned around to face him. "Really? How so?"

"You don't want to know." He smacked Ludwig's shoulder. "Well, I'll see you after school? Vater's coming home tonight, so take the bus."

"Yeah, of course," Ludwig nodded. Gilbert grinned, then jogged off to rejoin his friends, who were just leaving the lunchroom.

Feliciano casually walked up to Ludwig, looking in Gilbert's general direction. "So, you already made friends at your table?"

"Those are my brother's friends," Ludwig replied. "... And my brother."

At first, Feliciano was silent, before he whipped towards Ludwig, surprised. "Wait, you're sitting with _them_?" A small grin lit up his face. "You're _sitting_ with my brother's friends! That's right, your last names would fall next to theirs…" He then grinned widely. "So, ready to go back to classes?"

* * *

As the two brothers walked to their house after school had ended, Gilbert fiddled with his house key as he talked to Ludwig, who was just listening.

"Okay, so I know you haven't seen Vater in, like, five days…" He started out, biting his lip. "And even then, you didn't really talk. So technically, you haven't really met him in fourish, fiveish years. Okay, you probably don't even really know him, because of your amnesia and such…" Gilbert glanced worriedly back at Ludwig, feeling uncomfortable on the subject, before clearing his throat. "I mean…"

"What is he like?" Ludwig asked curiously. Not only did he want to learn more of his father, but maybe him explaining would make Gilbert a bit more comfortable.

Gilbert bit the inside of his cheek. "Well…" He blew out some air in thought. "Well, he doesn't talk much. He doesn't like to. Um… He has long hair, like a girl's, but you already know that." He laughed nervously. "... Yeah."

The two climbed the stairs to their large, rich house, and Gilbert unlocked the door. "I dunno if you're getting a key," he said, practically voicing Ludwig's thoughts. "Vater _might_ give you one." And with that, he pushed the door open, Ludwig following.

Gilbert kicked his shoes off, paused, then picked up his shoes. "You might want to put your shoes in the closet," he advised, sliding the coat closet open and laying his shoes flat. "And…" He looked over Ludwig's outfit, a simple white polo and black pants. "Nah, you're fine. I'm going to change."

"Why do you need to change?" Ludwig asked, raising an eyebrow as he took off one untied shoe. What was his father like to require a change of clothes?

"He kinda likes it when I look nice whenever he comes home," Gilbert shrugged. "I'm guessing he wants you to look nice as well, but…" He grinned. "You kinda already wear the spiffiest clothes." He picked up his backpack and started walking up the stairs to change. "Vater should be home in a couple minutes!"

Ludwig finally took off his other shoe, and he got both tennis shoes and placed them next to his brother's, shutting the closet. Lifting himself off the ground, he took his backpack and followed his gaze up the stairs.

He thought for a moment. _I should probably put away my backpack… Might as well._ He went up the stairs himself, all the while hearing Gilbert sift through his drawers, and pushed open the door to his room.

Unlike Gilbert's, his room was mainly empty. His room had previously been the unused guest room, the fourth room in the upper level other than Gilbert's and his father's bedrooms and a bathroom. There was only a bed in the corner, a nightstand beside it, a closet at the opposite end of the room, and a small desk right by the window. The eggshell blue walls were void of any design, and the desk held little. Only the closet and nightstand had anything of value, the closet having a few sets of clothes and the nightstand sporting an alarm clock and a tin the size of a shoebox.

Ludwig set his backpack down neatly by his bed and sat down on his bed, hearing the springs squeak softly under his weight. His eyes wandered to the tin beside his alarm clock, and for a moment, he was tempted to open it.

 _No_ , he told himself. _Not right now._ Maybe later.

The sound of the door downstairs opening caught his attention, and he got up to check who it was. Although, he had no doubts who it was.

" _Vater_!" He heard Gilbert shout, and as he exited his room, he saw Gilbert already stepping down the stairs. Ludwig followed behind, and once he reached downstairs, he saw the same man who had picked him up from the hospital a week ago.

His father.

"Hello, Gilbert," he greeted, nodding. His gaze then went to Ludwig. "Ludwig."

"... Vater," he replied, unsure on how else to reply.

He still looked the same as when he first saw him at the hospital a week ago: straight, blond hair tied back, a neutral look on his face. He wore a smart-looking black suit, which was accompanied with the same color tie. His briefcase was still at his side, not yet on the ground.

"So, anyway…" Gilbert clapped his hands, looking at both his brother and father. "How long are you staying? The whole weekend, right?" He grinned while saying it, looking hopeful at him.

"No," his father replied, and Gilbert's face fell. "I have to go back on Sunday. Important matters at my office need to be… Discussed." He loosened the tie around his neck, for once looking slightly uncomfortable. "Excuse me. I'll be freshening up for dinner." He passed by Ludwig, traveling up the stairs to what Ludwig assumed his room.

Gilbert sighed, crossing pale arms. "Darn. And I thought he would've wanted to stay the weekend for you, West."

Ludwig let his eyes follow his father until he couldn't be seen anymore. "What does he do for work?" He asked, still looking up at where his father disappeared.

"Medical and lab stuff," Gilbert shrugged, looking slightly bored. "He's in charge of some laboratory that invents and studies. The lab's a couple hours away, so that's why he's out a lot and doesn't stay here." He huffed. "He only comes on weekends. It sucks."

Ludwig nodded, then looked back at Gilbert. "So, about dinner…"

Gilbert puffed out his cheeks, in thought. "Actually, I'm thinking we should go out." He grinned. "There's this great restaurant north of here that's really good. We could go there to celebrate you and Vater being here. How about it?"

There was some shuffling upstairs. Both of the brothers looked up briefly, but they eventually ignored it.

"Yeah, we can do that."

* * *

 **Ludwig Beilschmidt - Germany**

 **Gilbert Beilschmidt - Prussia**

 **Feliciano Vargas - North Italy**

 **Antonio Carriedo - Spain**

 **Francis Bonnefoy - France**

 **Lovino Vargas - South Italy**

 **Gabriel Beilschmidt - Ancient Germania**

 **Vati, Vater - Daddy, Father in German.**

 **Mutti - Mommy in German.**

* * *

 **Oh hey. Sorry this took a while… There was stuff to do.**

 **So all the intros are complete! Next chapter is when the really good stuff happens~ A lot more action there than here! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, have a nice day!**


	4. Stranger Events

_**Feliciano**_

The next Monday had started ordinarily enough.

As per usual, the Lovino and Feliciano had walked to their school together, chatting loudly all the way. As per usual, they separated once they had arrived, Lovino going to his group of friends, Feliciano going to Ludwig. As per usual, once they were allowed to enter the school and get ready for classes, the two friends were having a one-sided conversation – the side being on Feliciano's – about the previous weekend.

Morning classes came and went quickly, or as quickly as Mondays could go. When Feliciano saw Kiku in the hallways, he gave an enthusiastic wave to his friend. Kiku, in return, gave a quieter one. Lunch also went by quickly, the time spent continuing the conversation he and Lovino had in the morning.

The day had started as a normal, somewhat boring Monday. If it was any other Monday, it would have ended like one as well, with extra homework, minimal stress, and the anticipation of tomorrow.

Unfortunately, it wasn't any other Monday. The Monday's usual normalness ended the moment Feliciano's fourth period class started.

* * *

World history bored Feliciano to no end. He couldn't stand all the wars, all the problems that always arises during the topic of history. Why couldn't they settle issues with peace and perhaps a plate of good food? It would be much simpler.

As the teacher carried out her discussion on ancient civilizations, Feliciano's eyes wandered. The class had about twenty-ish students, most of them sophomores, with a two or three freshmen scattered here and there. Most of the students were just like him: pencils tapping, heads down, and otherwise bored out of their minds. A student to his left was even snoozing away.

Ludwig, right next to him, was actually paying attention, like the other few students. No surprise there; he was always dedicated to school work, ever since he came. It made no sense, but maybe that came with the serious attitude. Or was it the other way around…? Feliciano pondered on the topic for a bit, then gave up as he sketched the pretty flower that sat on the teacher's desk. It hadn't been there last Friday.

A loud clap startled him into looking up, noticing that the teacher was looking slightly peeved.

"Come on, now," the teacher chided, crossing her arms. "I need you guys to pay attention. You look more dead than my first period class! Sit up, we have an Ancient Rome to study."

A few kids grumbled, sitting a bit straighter. Satisfied, the teacher continued talking and discussing. Feliciano tapped his pencil on the desk, gaze drifting to the still-snoring kid. Maybe he could join his siesta…

Sighing, he continued shading in his flower, looking up once in a while to inspect it from his spot. Maybe after school, he could ask the teacher what type of flower it was, so he could draw it outside of class-

A loud, heavy pop, accompanied with glass shattering, made the whole class freeze. Shrieks rang through the air, with more popping sounds followed, growing louder and louder. The teacher shouted " _Get down!_ " too late before their two windows were shattered, the bullets burying themselves into the wall and ceiling.

The class erupted in sound. Kids were shouting, crying, talking, hiding under desks, covering their heads, and so on in an attempt to calm themselves down. Feliciano had already dropped himself to the area below his desk just before the gunshots had shot into the classroom, eyes misty in shock. Heartbeat thumping wildly, he shut his eyes as his fear levels skyrocketed.

It had been a long, long time since he had been this scared.

The sound of the intercom turning on made Feliciano open his eyes a bit, curiosity flickering amongst the fear.

" _Helloooooooo Blackview High School!_ " The intercom blared, causing the whole class to quiet and cover their ears. There was some muttering on the intercom, before the young, strangely accented voice continued. " _Glad to see you're all properly scared! Did Tino scare ya with all those snipe shots? Peed your pants? Are there any teachers that fainted?_ " There was a pause. " _No? Meh, that's fine._ "

The whole class devolved into a shocked silence. They had expected the principal to come on the intercom, telling everyone to calm down. Not… This person. Even the teacher looked mildly confused, her head poking out of the desk.

" _So ya see, you've just been attacked by the N5! Who's the N5, you ask? Well, we're this—Hey!"_

There was some scuffling that came as static noise to the class, and an "oof" came with another voice on the announcement system.

" _My apologies for my friend,_ " a new person spoke, with no emotion apparent other than heavy-laden sarcasm. " _He can be… Overzealous at times._ "

The first man muttered something incoherent, and the other one continued.

" _We speak for your principal, who is currently unavailable at the moment. This school is under a strict lockdown. If you've noticed, red screens of energy are covering all escape points in your classroom, courtesy of my friend. I don't recommend touching them._ "

Feliciano peeked through his desk at the door, which was indeed coursing with red electricity. So were the windows, the sparks jumping when it touched a jagged edge.

When had those arrived? Shortly after the shots? That seemed to be the most probable answer, but it didn't comfort him any more.

" _I'm sure most of you have pulled out your phones to call 911. While I admire you for your levelheadedness, your attempt at safety is futile. It will take more than a simple police force to take us down._ "

" _In other words, you're screwed!_ " The first voice returned, a laugh riding his words. " _So be good kids and sit tight! You may or may not survive today~!_ " And with a click, the intercom shut off.

Feliciano hugged himself tighter, pressing his back to the edge of his chair. This had to be a nightmare. _It has to,_ he wished fervently, shutting his eyes again. _Please let it be just a dream, please let it be, please let it be-_

"Alfred!"

A sizzling noise, quickly followed by a pained shout and a body landing with a _thud_ on the carpeted floor, had Feliciano open his eyes into slits and witness a boy painfully sit up from the ground, rubbing his burned arm. The edges of his face were also burned, but not as much as his arm. Everyone stared at him in awed shock as he got up and readied a running position.

"Alfred!" The teacher hissed, crawling out halfway from her desk. Feliciano poked his head out from his desk, as well as other students who hid under their desk, to watch the exchange. "Get back to your desk!"

"We need to get out!" He protested, and he sprinted to the door and slammed his shoulder in the exact center. This time, his shout was even louder, and he was rolling around in pain as he clutched his red, peeling arm. The teacher carefully approached him, but she looked lost as she hesitated on what to do.

The red barrier surrounding the door went down, and the door was flung open. Everyone scurried back save for Alfred, who was still immobilized on the floor.

A silver-haired man no older than twenty strode in the classroom, his right hand held up in an odd way - as if he was holding a remote very loosely in his hand. A whoosh of air went through the classroom, shutting the door behind him.

The man looked like any regular college student: dark navy polo, dark jeans, black converse. His face was mostly expressionless, save for the dark vibe that he put out. He glared down at Alfred.

"What did I say about not touching the barriers?" The man asked, his voice betraying hints of exasperated annoyance. Feliciano blinked; this was the other man who spoke on the intercom. He crawled outside of his desk, still pressing himself to the floor.

Alfred momentarily stopped rolling to squint up at the man. He hissed something that Feliciano couldn't quite catch, although the venomous tone made him hypothesize it was a not-so-nice remark.

The man quirked an eyebrow. "Is that so?" He muttered lowly, eyes narrowing. "Suit yourself."

He snapped his fingers with the raised hand.

At the time, Feliciano's mind couldn't quite comprehend what had happened. The air pressure in the area behind him dropped so fast, his ears popped. Air rushed to the empty space, creating a gust of wind so strong it made Feliciano's eyes water, and he covered his face with his arms. He didn't see Alfred lift an inch into the air and shoot back, and only realized it too late when the two boys crashed into each other, rolling over each other and skidding on the ground.

He must have blacked out as well, because he soon found himself blinking intense pain away, blearily looking up to the ceiling. His ears were ringing slightly, and his vision was double. Something dribbled down his face, and he tried to wipe it away with an unfocused hand. His fingers were red.

Someone shook his shoulder roughly, and Feliciano looked up blinking. Alfred exhaled a relieved breath, his smile crooked. His glasses were crooked.

"Okay, you're alive," Alfred sighed, his voice muted in Feliciano's ringing ears. He jabbed a thumb to the front of the classroom. "He's arguing with a guy right now."

Feliciano struggled to prop himself on his elbows, looking up. His sight was much better, and the ringing had lessened. Indeed, the silver-haired man was shouting at a somewhat taller comrade, this one bedecked in red. The door had resumed its red electrified look.

"I'm already done," he hissed, motioning to Feliciano and Alfred. "I don't need your help. Go back to Emil."

"Your brother is enough to guard a measly principal," his friend retorted, placing his hands on his hips and leering at him defiantly. "I wanna wreck shit with you guys."

"You were _assigned_ to the _principal_ , Mathias."

"And _you_ are a stick in the mud," Mathias retorted, leering even closer. "And who cares where I was 'assigned'? _I'm_ the leader, not that prickly-"

The sound of blaring sirens made him pause, glancing at the window. From where Feliciano was, he couldn't see anything outside of the red tinted windows, but he was nonetheless excited at the prospect of policemen, fire trucks, and ambulances coming and saving them.

Mathias scoffed. "Ah, the lovely authorities coming to the rescue… Not as if they can enter in the first place." He stretched, and it looked like red sparks were flickering off his back. "Come on, Lukas. I wanna mess with the authorities." He made an extravagant bow towards the door, hands arcing with his upper body, and the red barrier dropped. "See ya!" He crowed as he opened the door and exited.

Lukas caught the door with one hand before it shut all the way, taking one last glance at the class. "Make sure nobody doesn't do anything idiotic when I leave. My friend can do much better than I when it comes to punishment." He gave one final semi-glare at Alfred and Feliciano before shutting the door behind him. Moments later, the red electricity returned.

* * *

The lockdown lasted for the rest of the hour. The only sound was the sirens blaring outside the school, adding to the silent tension inside.

Their teacher had written _Silence please_ on the chalkboard, but it wasn't as if they were loud before. Each student was sitting on their desk quietly, doing their own little activity as time drew on. Some were on their phones - most likely taking advantage of the fact that the teacher was a little out of it -, some read, some doodled, and some simply stared.

Feliciano held a tissue to his nose, blocking his bloody nose. He was much too frazzled to pick up his pencil and finish his flower, instead looking at his desk as his heart still beat quickly. Adrenaline caused his foot to tap endlessly on the floor, the carpet hushing it. He didn't notice it tapping, however.

When the bell rang to signify the end of class, everyone flinched. A few kids started packing up, but remembered grimly that they had no means of exiting the room. The soft crackling of the barriers, which could only be heard if you listened closely, mocked them all.

Feliciano's foot tapped faster. He wanted to get out, to stretch and move a little. He wanted to move so badly.

Common sense won over, telling him to stay put and be silent. _You'll be able to move later,_ Feliciano promised himself, his foot tapping slowing. _Just wait._

The intercom crackled to life again, and everyone looked up warily. What now?

" _So… I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that everyone is bored out of their minds,_ " Mathias's joking voice rang through the classroom. " _Yeah, well, we are too! In a few minutes we're gonna go ahead and split, and you guys will be free to go._ "

The class quietly bubbled in surprised whispers. Free to go? Was he serious?

" _In a few minutes, my barriers will go down, which means you can all get out. Or get in, for all the fancy authorities outside. Whatever ya do next, that's not up to me unfortunately. You've all been a great audience-well, more like hostages-and I wanna thank you for your cooperation! See ya later~!"_

And with a click, the announcement system became silent once more.

Everyone was chatting excitedly, stacking items so they could leave. The teacher had tried in vain to keep the volume down, but her voice just added to the sound.

Replacing his tissue, Feliciano also started packing up quickly. Within seconds, his binder and other items were in his arms. He stole a quick glance to Ludwig, who was also silently putting away his stuff. Feliciano had the urge to strike up a friendly conversation, and so he did.

"So, Ludwig… That was pretty scary, huh?" He started… Or would have. Really, all that left his mouth was "So, Lud-" when a large, crackling sound drew his attention to the windows.

To everyone's delight, the red barriers were being dissolved right before their eyes. The barriers in front of the windows revealed their shattered, broken state, a few pieces of glass falling from the edges. The door showed no signs of abuse.

Two kids rushed to the door, eager to leave, but one of them shouted in pain as they placed a hand on the door handle.

" _Hot!_ " The kid yelped, wringing his hand out as if it would decrease the pain. His friend stared in shock at the door handle in disbelief.

Just at that moment, the intercom system came to life, bringing in the principal's strained voice.

" _Students, please remain in your classrooms until further notice. I repeat, please stay in your classrooms until further notice-_ " He paused for a moment, and some scuffling ensued. He then continued, his worried tone turning into a more authoritative one. " _Students, please remain in your classrooms for the moment. We are contacting your guardians at this moment to pick you up, and we will notify your teacher when they arrive. If need be, we will arrange other modes of transportation. I repeat, stay in your classrooms until otherwise noted._ " And with a click, it turned off.

There was something similar to a collective groan throughout the classroom, and the teacher clapped nervously to shush it.

"Right then," the teacher sighed, forcing a smile. "Class, erm, dismissed!"

* * *

 **Feliciano Vargas – N. Italy**

 **Lovino Vargas – S. Italy**

 **Ludwig Beilschmidt – Germany**

 **Kiku Honda – Japan**

 **Tino – Finland**

 **Alfred F. Jones – America**

 **Emil – Iceland**

 **Mathias – Denmark**

 **Lukas – Norway**

* * *

 **AH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH**

 **I MADE THE NORDICS THE BAD GUYS**

… **Pleasedon'tkillme.**

 **Fufufu, I had fun writing this chapter. Action is something I like to write. The next chapter will be even more fun to write, though. Prepare for the whole group to meet!**

 **Tell me what you think and review! And I'm sorry to those who wanted to review the last chapter and couldn't. I think it'll work on this chapter.**

 **See ya next chapter~!**

 **P.S: The Nordics don't have last names… Huh…**


	5. Supernatural Confusion

**Note: Make sure you are on a font where you can see bold text.**

* * *

 _ **Kiku**_

From under the covers, his fingers tapped his alarm the moment it rang its first note.

However, he hadn't pressed quite hard enough, causing it to continue its ringing. With a groan, Kiku pulled down some of his blankets and sat up, pressing harder on the alarm clock. It finally shut up after a few more attempts, displaying the time silently: six o'clock sharp.

He rubbed his eyes. Time to get ready for school-

Kiku stopped. The school. _It got attacked_ , he realized in his foggy head. _Would it even be open?_

He raked a bandaged hand through his hair, shuddering as he recounted the events of yesterday in his mind. He was out in the halls when the bullets first shattered the windows, as he was coming back from the restrooms. The door to his classroom, which he had run frantically back to, had been coursing with electricity from the red barrier just behind it, along with its metal door handle. That fact had only come to light when he tried opening the door and had a few hundred powerful volts go through his system, effectively burning his hands.

Then the man in red let him back inside the classroom, but not without summoning a long bolt of electricity and poking with him in the shoulder with it-

… Wait. No, that can't be correct, people can't summon electricity, that's impossible-

His reminiscing was cut short by Niko, who had slept beside him last night. The cat was pawing at Kiku's chest, staring up at him with a pitiful expression. Sighing, Kiku started rubbing the cat's jaw.

But that was what he _saw_ , though. He could try convincing himself otherwise, but he did see the strange man holding a long bolt of alive electricity without any repercussion and zap Kiku with another couple hundred volts.

He shook his head. _This is real life,_ he scolded himself. It wasn't like his manga, where ordinary people can get mysterious powers. _Most likely, that was a complex piece of technology. Of course._

And with that, he guided Niko's head away as he slipped out of his comfortable bed. Niko flicked his tail at the sudden absence of petting, deciding to roll around on the bed.

His shoulder suddenly ached, and he massaged it as he crossed over to the other bed. His mother put some ointment on his hands and shoulder, where the burns were, and wrapped his hands with strips of cloths to act as bandages. They did the same to his shoulder, wrapping it so tight that it numbed the burned skin.

Stopping just in front of his brother's bed, he lightly shook Yong Soo's shoulder. "Yong Soo," he muttered, persistently shaking. "Wake up."

"Fwuh?" His brother mumbled in his pillow, shifting in his bed so he faced the wall. "I'm sleeping…"

"You need to wake up," Kiku insisted, shaking his shoulder more. It was like this almost every morning: Yong Soo never woke up to the alarm, being too much of a deep sleeper, so Kiku had to wake him up instead. " _Yong_."

Yong Soo shoved himself deeper in his sheets, taking his pillow with him. "I'm sleeeeepiiiing…" He drawled out in a quiet, tired whisper. Only his flyaway strand was sticking out from the sheets, and it bobbed as Yong Soo shook his head sleepily. "I don't wanna go to school…"

With a sigh, Kiku carefully peeled back the sheets, revealing his younger brother curled up in a ball on the bed. He was frowning, feebly trying to get the sheets back on him.

"Kikuuuu," he complained, looking blearily up at him. "Give back my sheets. Please?"

"We need to get ready," Kiku repeated, tossing the sheets at the back of the bed. "Come on, Yong."

Yong Soo stuck out his tongue, but he slowly unfurled to tiredly glare at Kiku. "But Kiku, what if school is cancelled?"

Kiku opened his mouth to reply his usual retort - that it was a silly idea that it would -, but yesterday's events made him reconsider. Maybe it _was_ cancelled, in case another group of wayward teens decided to attack the school. It wasn't a silly idea now.

Yong Soo raised a tired eyebrow at Kiku's pause. "Huh? Don't you usually say something after that?"

Their door opened, prompting both of the boys to turn towards the entrance. Nya skipped in, leaping on Yong Soo's bed to cheerily meow a good morning. Their mother then peeked in the room holding a cup of coffee, looking more awake than the two brothers combined.

She smiled. "Are my little boys awake yet?"

Yong Soo gave her a thumbs-up. "Totally," he grinned. Kiku just nodded.

"Come on downstairs, your father and I have something to tell you and the others." She tilted back her head to signify the downstairs. "It's about your school."

Kiku and Yong Soo briefly glanced at each other. School? From the gleam in his eyes, Kiku could tell that Yong Soo couldn't wait to hear the news.

"We'll be downstairs in moment!" Yong Soo replied happily, all sleepiness gone. He waved goodbye to their mom as she quietly left the door open as she walked away.

Kiku glanced at his hands, starting to unravel the strips of cloth as Yong Soo bounced on his bed excitedly.

"School is _totally_ gonna be canceled!" He cheered, sliding off the bed and glancing under Kiku's bed. "Oh, Nya," he sighed, picking up the cat who was peeking under the bed. "Niko doesn't like to play. Remember?"

Nya glanced back at Yong Soo's face, then back under the bed, as if she wanted to play with Niko nonetheless.

"Niko likes to play," Kiku protested, balling up the strips used to cover his left hand and looking it over. The flesh was still an unhealthy reddish-pink, but at least it didn't throb as much.

"Only with you, though," Yong Soo shrugged, shifting Nya in his arms. "I'm going downstairs with Nya. See you!" And with that, Yong Soo dashed out of the room excitedly. Kiku soon heard a "Morning, Aniki!", followed by an exasperated groan from Yao.

Shaking his head, Kiku started unravelling the bandages from his other hand. It burned whenever the bare skin of his hand grazed any surface, and he was careful to touch the bandages as little as possible.

 _ **Are they gone?**_

Kiku froze, glancing around his bedroom. _Who… Who was that?_

After a few seconds of silence (beside the sounds of morning routine outside the bedroom), Kiku uneasily continued unravelling. He was certain that someone just spoke, loud and clear. But whoever they were, they sounded unfamiliar and strange. Was there another person in the room? No, no… The only people who come to this room was he, Yong Soo, and their mom, and Kiku knew they were downstairs. Maybe a robber was here? But then, why would they speak up-

Something furry brushed against his leg, and he flinched in surprise. His stray hand grabbed the cold metal of the backboard of his bed, which made him hiss in pain and immediately remove his hand from the metal.

A curious meow brought Kiku's attention down to Niko, who was gazing strangely at his master as he sat in front of him, tail waving.

"Oh, um… Hi," Kiku mumbled, flustered. Was it possible to embarrass yourself in front of a cat? He regained his composure, continuing his unravelling. He glanced up briefly when Niko jumped up on the bed and sitting on its edge, trying to paw at the dangling bandages in Kiku's hand, but he continued until he unraveled the last bandage.

That voice was just his imagination. His nerves were still frazzled from yesterday; he was imagining things. That was the only explanation. The only explanation-

"Kiku!" He heard Yong Soo shout, then be shushed by either Yao or Mei. Kiku gathered up the bandages in his hands, trying to ignore their tenderness.

"Coming!" He called back, then whispered, "Come on," to Niko. Niko leaped down from the bed, following his master as said boy widened the already open door with his foot, holding bandages in his arms.

Kiku passed by Leon, who was yawning as he shut the door of his bedroom behind him. Neither spoke a word to the other as they climbed downstairs to the kitchen area, where everyone else was sitting down at the dining table.

"Leon! Kiku!" Mei greeted cheerfully, waving. "Sit down, we got a call from the school!"

"We did?" Leon asked, interest piqued as he sat down at his spot at the table. Kiku did as well, also curious. _If there's a call, then that means…_

Their dad hushed them all, setting the landline phone on the table. "Yes," he replied, looking at all five of the children. "Hush now, I'm going to play it." He pressed a button on the phone.

" _Hello. This is the Blackview High School, calling to inform you that there is a two-hour delay at school today. Following yesterday's events, we believe that this is best for the safety of the students. If you would like to have your children stay home for the day, please call the attendance line to report your children's absence. We shall repeat the message. Hello. This is the Blackview High School-_ "

Their dad stopped the message from continuing, looking back at the children. "And there it is," he smiled. "You guys had school delayed. What do you think?"

 _ **No school!**_

Kiku flinched in his seat at the sudden outburst. He glanced sideways at Yong Soo, who was grinning ear to ear. _That… That was loud-_

"That's so cool!" Yong Soo shouted, jumping out of his chair. "We don't have to go to school! I can actually sleep in today! This is so amazing-"

"You're still going to school, Yong Soo," their mom affirmed, shaking her head in amusement. "You're not skipping."

"Oh, come on, Kim," their dad laughed, "they don't have to go if they don't want to."

"Delayed school is still school," she countered. "They need their learning."

 _ **Suppose the school gets attacked again? Huh?**_

Kiku's attention then turned to Yao, who was glaring at his step-mom. _I-I guess that's true,_ Kiku silently replied to Yao, _but I doubt that's going to happen-_

"They have to go to school, Cheng," their mom continued, "even if they don't want to."

Yao blinked, looking disoriented for a moment, before glancing up at Kiku. Startled by the sudden attention, Kiku looked away quickly.

Their dad shrugged, finally relenting. "If you say so."

Yong Soo pouted. "You sure we have to go…?"

"Yes," their mom replied, patting Yong Soo's shoulder. "If you want, sleep in a bit more. I'll wake you up."

His expression immediately brightened, and he happily skipped out of the kitchen to run upstairs. "Thanks!" He shouted behind him, ecstatic.

The others started to get up as well, including Kiku. Before he left the kitchen to go back to his bedroom, however-

 _ **God, I hope I'm making the right decision.**_

Kiku turned back around to watch his mom wave at her husband with a half-smile, although she wore an extremely worried look. Kiku's step-father, none the wiser, waved back as he opened the front door to go to work.

Kiku blinked in surprise. _Didn't he hear her?_ He wondered, staring at the now closed door. _She sounded worried, and he… He should have heard, even I could hear her, and he was so much closer! -_

"Kiku?"

He glanced up to his mom, surprised. She looked equally surprised, with that worry from before still there.

"You were staring off in space. Are you okay?" She asked, concerned. Kiku nodded quickly, straightening.

"Yes, I'm fine," he replied. He then smiled. "And you made the right choice. Don't worry."

His mom looked startled for a moment, but she quickly recovered and smiled back. "Of course, Kiku. Thank you." She glanced down at Kiku's hands. "Here, let's put some more medicine on your hands and shoulder."

* * *

There were a lot of police officers at the school.

Kiku had expected some protective measures, but the amount of officers in every turn of the hallway was alarming. It was as if three quarters of the police force was assigned to the school alone, keeping a wary eye on the students and entrances.

But the most alarming part of the day?

How _loud_ everyone was being.

True, a scary event had just occurred the past day, and hallways were usually a place where everyone spoke, but every break between classes deafened Kiku with overlapping voices. Many voices belonged to the students around him, but a few, surprising ones came from teachers and other adults. Despite their lips barely moving, he heard their groans and pleas for the day to 'just be over already'. Others said… Nicer things, sympathizing for the 'poor children'. Either way, everyone seemed to be a lot more - what was the word? - _talkative_ than before.

Lunch was even worse. It took only ten minutes before the hundreds upon hundreds of complaints made by kids around him about the lunch and about how unfair it was to come to school finally made Kiku just up and leave the lunchroom. Sure, the spaghetti wasn't the best, but surely it wasn't that bad to warrant the whole lunchroom to complain?

As he walked away, the chatter from the lunchroom quieted, and Kiku heaved a massive sigh. He had gotten a massive headache from the doubled volume of the lunchroom, one that was thankfully slowly fading.

 _Maybe I should've stayed home,_ he inwardly sighed. His feet moved by themselves, going wherever they wanted to. _Perhaps I should have disagreed with Mom, backed up Yong Soo… Oh, who am I kidding._ Kiku stopped, frowning. _I couldn't have spoken up, even if I wanted to._

It was then that he realized he was nowhere near the lunchroom. Confused, he whirled around in his position until he recognized the spot of hallway he was in and saw the door of where the Anime-Manga club was held. The lights were off, the room most likely empty and locked.

Kiku exhaled a short laugh, sliding a finger along the wood grain of the door and stopping just above the metal handle. _I suppose the club's a point of comfort for me,_ he thought, _other than my spot on the roof. The two places where I feel my best._

 _Oh right, we have a meeting today,_ he realized, retreating his hand. _I wonder how spooked Feli was from yesterday. He'll babble all through the meeting._ Kiku sighed. _Well, that's Feli for you. But can he be more talkative than before? I don't think that's possible. He already talks a lot-_

 _Behind me! -_

Kiku instinctually pivoted on his heel, somehow, to come face to face with a tall, tall policewoman.

… _Oh._

The officer raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing outside of the lunchroom?"

Kiku blinked. _Strange,_ he numbly thought. _She doesn't seem as complaining as the other adults._

"Ah, w-well, you see," Kiku tried to explain, words tripping over themselves, "I-I was… Taking a break. From lunch. I-I'm done." He then realized he actually _wasn't_ done with his lunch; he had left it when he was fleeing the lunchroom.

"Done in fifteen minutes?" She questioned, eyes narrowing. Kiku gulped.

 _ **Strange kid.**_

 _And there it is,_ Kiku stifled a groan. _There's the complaint._ He then frowned in realization. _Wait… She wasn't even talking. She had closed her mouth! How does that even work? -_

"Kid?"

"Huh?" Kiku yelped, jumping a bit.

"So you were done in fifteen minutes? Really?" She repeated incredulously.

"Yes! Yes, I was," Kiku hastily lied, nodding in an attempt to make it more believable. _Ohhh… I am going to be in so much trouble…_

The police woman rocked back on her heels, making herself taller than before, as she thought. Kiku nervously stood still, waiting. _Please, just get it over with,_ he pleaded, _preferably so I don't get in trouble, please?_

"Tell you what," the officer finally said, placing a hand on her hip. "I'll escort you to the lunchroom. You're technically not supposed to leave the lunchroom until the period's over, you know that?"

"Um… Yeah." _Really?_

The officer motioned for Kiku to move. "Come on. Let's go."

Kiku nodded, and he started walking forward. Three steps later, however, he felt his feet trip over themselves and he stumbled forward, whirling around to face the policewoman.

 _ **Whoa, whoa-**_ "Hey, are you okay?" The officer asked, startled.

Kiku blinked, gingerly touching his injured shoulder. The officer had a hand out, almost as if she had wanted to…

"Yeah," he replied, squeezing his shoulder. "I, um, I injured my shoulder yesterday, and… I didn't want you to touch it."

"Oh. Of course," the officer nodded in sympathy. "My apologies."

Kiku nodded as well, turning back around and continued walking. He heard the officer's footsteps behind him, a comfortable distance away from him. Despite him walking normally, his mind was reeling.

 _How did… How did I even know that she was going to hold my shoulder?_ He questioned himself, frowning to himself. He was thankful the officer couldn't see him. _She didn't even graze my shoulder, and I had… Dodged it…_

 _No no no no, I do not have psychic abilities. Impossible. It was just sixth sense. That's all._

 _But, that would explain how that officer had somehow spoken without even moving her mouth. In fact, that was like a lot of the teachers and adults today… For them to be that loud, they'd have to move their mouths even a little bit. In fact, they even sounded a bit… Echoed. Like they were in my head._

 _No!_ He mentally scolded himself. _I do not have telepathy. I don't. I don't have an elevated sixth sense either. No. Stop thinking that. Stop._ He sighed. _I'm either paranoid, or I've been watching too much anime. … I honestly don't know which one._

 _ **\- lunch freaking done yet?**_

 _ **God, that's hilarious!**_

 _ **This lunch makes me barf.**_

 _ **Maybe you should be concerned for your own damn self, huh?**_

"There you go."

Kiku had almost passed the officer's voice as the other multiple ones, and he tried to hide his surprise when he whirled around to face her again.

"I guess so," he replied, shrugging.

The officer sighed, crossing her arms. "Don't leave until the bell toll, alright? We don't want a meaner cop to flag you down, right?" She chuckled at her own joke, shaking her head. "Anyway… You have a nice day, alright?"

Kiku nodded, and the officer turned to leave. Before she left, however, Kiku mustered his courage and called out, "Ma'am?"

"Hmm?" She hummed, turning back around.

Kiku paused for a moment, before asking, "You… Do you think that the lunchroom's loud? Well, louder than normal?"

The officer thought for a bit, then shrugged. "I dunno. It's as loud as any lunchroom out there." She waved a curt wave, before leaving.

* * *

Kiku hurriedly packed his bag and shut the door of his locker, tuning out the voices. A nifty little trick he learned in the last period, forcing out the noise from his mind dramatically dropped the volume of his surroundings and let him think for once. He was eternally grateful for it, and he let out a small breath in relief as he started walking to the room-

"Oh, sorry," he apologized as he bumped shoulders with a taller student, turning back briefly to put up his hands in surrender. Turning around, however, made him bump into a girl, and he repeated his apology, more embarrassed this time. After she forgave him with a smile, he walked some more before being shoved into some lockers by a rough hand.

"Oops, sorry dude!" The student responsible shouted, waving behind him before continuing his mad dash out of the school.

Kiku blinked, dusting himself off as he righted himself against the lockers. _What's wrong with me?_ He sighed, warily continuing his way. _First, the school somehow increases its volume, then I got in trouble with a police officer, and now I'm bumping into everyone. Where are the dodging skills from when I was with the officer? -_

He suddenly gasped as his mind went abuzz and the hallway's noise level dramatically increased again. Rubbing his forehead, Kiku tried tuning the noise out once more as he determinedly stared at the ground. He just wanted this confusing day to just be over.

 _Ah! Go left!_

Kiku suddenly sidestepped, letting another student run past him as Kiku himself stared. His feet then started moving quickly, quickly avoiding a large group of friends that would've stampeded over him should he had stayed still.

 _... They're back,_ he noticed in the back of his mind, just before arriving at the club's classroom and quickly entering. Shutting the door behind him, he leaned against the door as he heaved a sigh. He was finally out of the crowds, away from a majority of the noise. Thank goodness.

"Oh! Hey, Kiku!"

Kiku's gaze snapped up, and his eyes widened at the sight of…

"Feli?" Kiku exclaimed, staring at the sophomore sitting happily on his seat. "But… How are you early?"

Feliciano laughed, shrugging as he played with his hands. "I dunno! I'm actually quite surprised too, since for some reason I'm being early for _everything_! Well, fast too. I practically ran here! And to all my classes! This day's been kinda weird, you know?" He rambled, amber eyes shining.

 _You don't know the half of it._ "Yeah, I do," Kiku replied, slipping his bag off his shoulder and walking to the table. "Um, here." He took out the laptop and placed it in front of Feliciano. Feliciano's eyes lit up, ecstatically opening the lid of the laptop.

"Ooh! You brought it!" He cheered, rubbing on the mouse pad quickly to wake it up. When the laptop didn't react, his face fell. "It's not turning on."

Kiku reached over and pressed on the power button, then focused back on gathering books from his bag. He heard Feliciano's gasp when the monitor (assumedly) turned on, and the clicking of keys.

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Feliciano sighed, fingers tapping on the laptop as it booted up. "Ludwig said he's coming today! You can meet him! But he's late, isn't he…?" He sighed, finger tapping quickening. _**Come on… Hurry up, Ludwig!**_

"I'm sure he'll come at his own time," Kiku reassured, spreading the books out. "He doesn't need to hurry." _Perhaps he could slow down a bit, or perhaps not come._

Feliciano uncharacteristically frowned, turning in his seat towards the entrance. His hands migrated from tapping on the laptop to tapping on his face, keeping its fast rhythm as he kept his impatient gaze at the door. A glance to the computer brightened his expression, and he eagerly refocused on the computer to login, fingers tapping the computer once again.

Kiku tried ignoring the sound of nail to plastic, keeping his nose down in his book, but soon it distracted him enough to tear his eyes from his graphic novel to Feliciano. _Finger tapping?_ He silently inquired, somewhat intrigued. _What an odd habit. I've never seen you do it before._

Feliciano let out a surprised little "oh", glancing down at his hand before looking up at Kiku. "I-I'm sorry," he chuckled nervously, tucking his hand under the table. "Is it bothering you? I've been doing that a lot today. I can stop, if you want."

Flustered, Kiku was at first at a loss of words before he quickly replied, "No no, it doesn't. I didn't say anything."

"… You didn't?" Feliciano asked, looking confused. He then laughed nervously, going back to the laptop. "Never mind, I must have imagined it."

Kiku nodded unsurely, turning back to his book. _I really didn't say that aloud, did I? I hope I didn't._

It was soon silent. Feliciano was still trying to bring up the anime website, and Kiku was absorbed in his book. Nothing bothered them.

Then, Kiku heard a buzzing noise.

It was just a low drone, nothing particularly special. However, it seemed so out-of-place that it immediately brought Kiku's attention out of his book. _What's that buzzing?_ Confused, he searched around the classroom from his spot on the table, and when he could see nothing out of the ordinary in the classroom itself, he almost let it slide when he glanced at his friend.

Feliciano's hand was _vibrating_.

It wasn't just moving; it was actually vibrating in place, the shape blurring past the wrist. His forearm, along with the rest of his arm, was completely normal, completely still, but his hand seemed like it had a mind of its own. Feliciano seemed completely unaware of the fact that his hand was exhibiting the strange behavior, either glancing at the laptop or his gaze wandering from it, going everywhere except at the hand.

 _Should… Should I say something?_ Kiku panicked, sitting tall and stiff as he continued staring at the hand. _I don't want to appear rude, though. Maybe just… Politely point it out. Like… 'Feli, your hand is vibrating!…' No, too blunt. 'Feli, is there something wrong?' No! Don't say that! -_

"Did you say something?"

Kiku jolted in his seat, staring at Feliciano with wide eyes. "N-No!" He quickly said, gripping his book. "I didn't say…" He looked down at Feliciano's hand, silently shocked. It was still vibrating, although the blurred shape seemed smaller, as if it was now gripped like a fist.

Confused, Feliciano followed Kiku's line of sight down to his hand.

His reaction was much, much louder.

"Oh my- Why is my- _What's wrong with my hand_?" Feliciano shouted, jumping from his seat and backing away. He tried holding it firm with his other hand, but he yelped in surprise when it just started vibrating with its other and he tripped over his feet. "Gah!" He squeaked as he landed back-first on the carpeted floor, blurring hands flailing and trying to grasp at anything, but it only grabbed empty air. "Help!"

Kiku stood up from his seat as well, but he watched helplessly on. _Are- Are you okay? I didn't mean to scare you!_

A barely noticeable breeze swirled in the room, and suddenly Feliciano was standing unsteadily on his feet. "I'm fine!" He shouted, wobbling as he leaned on a table. "Oh, wow, that was quick…"

Kiku blinked, his mind unable to comprehend. _He was… He was on the ground_ , he tried reasoning, _but now he's standing…? How did he get up so fast?_

"Hey, they're not being weird anymore," Feliciano realized as he held up his hands. Indeed, they had stilled, not vibrating at all. He exhaled a laugh, flexing his fingers. "That was pretty weird, right Kiku? -"

The door opened loudly, and a surprised Kiku turned to the entrance of the classroom. It revealed a student about Feliciano's age, holding his own backpack and a book in his arm. "I'm sorry that I am late, I got lost-"

There was suddenly a loud yelp, followed by a crash, stopping the student's talking and startling Kiku into turning back to where Feliciano was-

Except he wasn't there. To Kiku's great shock, Feliciano was instead eight feet away, slumping against a bookshelf with quite a few books knocked down and surrounding him. He was reeling in pain, a knot starting to form where it had connected with one of the wooden shelves, and perhaps from a few of the falling books. Repeated "ow"s could be heard from the poor boy.

Kiku wasn't quite sure on what to do. Address the student, or help Feliciano? He turned back to the new student, who looked as lost as to what to do as Kiku was.

The new student coughed into his hand, looking mighty uncomfortable. "This is the right club, right? The Anime-Manga one?"

Kiku nodded, unsure on how else to respond.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room, save for Feliciano's pained whimpers. No one moved, either too preoccupied or too awkward to do anything.

Thankfully (for Kiku, at least), the student spoke up first. "So… Is he okay?" He asked, curious.

 _Oh, far from it,_ Kiku tried saying, but it never left his mouth. _He was restless before, but tapping fingers and vibrating hands aren't usually normal, no? Somehow he crashed in a bookcase in the blink of an eye, and with enough force to knock down several books, and if that wasn't super speed, then I don't know what that was-_

"H-Hold on," the student suddenly said, putting up a hand for pause. "Would you mind repeating that? I didn't quite catch all of that."

… _What?_ "I didn't say anything," Kiku protested, puzzled. _What is he talking about?_

"You did," the student insisted. "I'm… I'm not sure how. You didn't even move your mouth, and…" _**I thought I was the only one.**_

"'Only one' what?" Kiku asked. "What are you talking about?"

The student didn't say anything for a while, still in thought. Kiku was about to say something when someone beat him to it.

"Um, guys…?"

Both of them turned to Feliciano, slightly surprised that he had spoken up. He grinned, giving a tiny wave.

"Could you help me up?" He asked, sliding a book off his lap. "I kinda want some ice…"

* * *

It was last year all over again: Feliciano got hurt, and there was a new member in the club. Kiku had a strong sense of déjà vu as Feliciano sat with a bag of ice pressed to the back of his head, still smiling through it all. The student, who introduced himself as Ludwig, sat across of him, while Kiku sat between them.

"So…" Feliciano started, ice crinkling as he shifted the bag. "About, um, whatever it was you and Lud were talking about…"

Kiku looked expectantly at Ludwig, who was currently staring at the polished table. Whoever this new addition was, he seemed to know about what they were going through.

"It's… It's a bit complicated," Ludwig started, then paused as he thought some more. "I actually think… Well..." He sighed in a tone of finality. "I don't know how else to describe it, so I'll put it plainly: fear-activated supernatural abilities."

A beat of silence.

Feliciano perked up. "Oh, so you mean superpowers?"

"… In a sense," he replied, unsure. "Look, I know it seems absolutely ridiculous-"

"That's so cool!" Feliciano grinned, excited. "We have superpowers! We can be superheroes! So, what do you suppose mine is? Is it related to how everything I do is so fast! That's called… Super speed, right? And Kiku, he'd have… What's the power with the reading minds and sending thoughts and-"

"Telepathy," Kiku answered automatically, and then he shook his head. "Wait… But superpowers aren't… Real," he trailed off, glancing at Ludwig. "They're fiction."

At that, Ludwig grimaced slightly. "As much as I'd like for that to be so…"

"So Ludwig," Feliciano piped up, expression turning curious. "How come you know so much about it?" He gasped excitedly. "Do you have powers too? Ooh, what are they? Are they cool? Show me!"

"No," Ludwig firmly asserted. "I'm not going to show my-"

 _Feli, that might be private,_ Kiku internally protested, looking slightly concerned. _Just let him speak-_

"Ah!" Feliciano yelped, pressing the ice into his head. "Ow ow ow…"

"What's wrong?" Ludwig asked, surprised. Kiku was as well, curious as to what happened.

"Kiku's voice, it was in my head," he quickly explained, eyes widening. "So that's what telepathy is…" He grinned. "That's so cool!"

Kiku blinked, still not quite believing it. Superpowers? _Me?_ _Impossible._

But these previous days seemed to prove them possible after all. Especially today, with one crazy event after the other, it actually seemed plausible that he had an odd case of telepathy.

"But Ludwig," Feliciano asked, drumming fingers on the table, "how do you know all about this stuff? You seem like you know an awful lot. Is there any particular reason why?"

 _Ah, he brings up a good point,_ Kiku thought. _How does Ludwig know all of this?_

At the expectant stares, Ludwig glanced to the side, sighing. "Well…"

* * *

 **Kiku Honda - Japan**

 **Yong Soo Im Honda - S. Korea**

 **Kim-Lyn Chun-Honda - Vietnam**

 **Kaoru "Leon" Wang - Hong Kong, China**

 **Mei Xiao Wang - Taiwan**

 **Cheng Wang - Macau, China**

 **Yao Wang - China**

 **Feliciano Vargas - N. Italy**

 **Ludwig Beilschmidt - Germany**

* * *

 **HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME**

 **And, as my present to you guys, you get a stupidly long chapter about introverts and superpowers. That ends in a cliffhanger. Hah.**

 **If anything, anything at all seems in the least bits confusing, please review! I would be more than happy to explain as much as I can without spoiling the plot. Or, if you wanna review about anything else, that's cool too.**

 **Anyone want to take a gander at fully explaining the three Axis guy's powers? Ludwig will be pretty hard, since the only hint I gave was a very tiny bit in his chapter… Yeah. Take a guess.**

 **I hope you liked the chapter! Have an excellent rest of the day! See you later~!**


	6. Just Like Us

_**Ludwig**_

 _Apparently, he was a miracle._

 _His doctor told him so, and often at that. Other than his amnesia, a fluctuating temperature, and a broken bone in his leg, he was perfectly healthy. But while his doctor took his state of health in stride, the other staff thought it odd. He should've been mentally addled, they whispered. He should've been unconscious longer, they protested. He shouldn't have survived._

" _Why do they act so surprised?" Gilbert asked, puffing out his cheeks in annoyance. "You're just so much more awesome than them."_

 _Gilbert always visited, every day. He was consistent, always arriving for the forty-five minutes that Gilbert's school schedule and the visiting hours allowed, ever since he woke up a week ago. Gilbert told Ludwig many facts about their life: his full name was Ludwig Beilschmidt, he was twelve years old, they owned two dogs, Gilbert was elder by one year, and Gilbert liked pancakes and the word 'awesome'._

" _Say… Can I see you in the wheelchair, West?" Gilbert asked, switching from annoyed to happy. "I always see you in bed. Maybe I can push you around the hospital!"_

 _No one would tell him about the accident. Gilbert would always go silent and uncomfortable, ready to talk about anything except that. His doctor would just say it was an unfortunate car accident, and leave it at that. Actual answers or clarification were out of the question._

" _They wouldn't like that," Ludwig replied, shifting in his bed. He was smiling at the idea, however. "They want me to stay in bed."_

" _Pshh, who cares what they think?" Gilbert scoffed, rolling his eyes as his legs kicked out. "You need to get out of bed! Be awesome! It must be so boring laying on the bed and doing nothing!"_

" _I read."_

 _Gilbert stared in owlish surprise, almost looking offended. "You read? That's it?" He let out a low whistle. "I feel so, so sorry for you."_

 _Ludwig shrugged, looking down at his hands to finger the sheets. "It's fine. They're thinking of moving me to a room with a television in it."_

" _Oh, really? But you probably don't know any shows. Or, maybe you do. I don't know. I need to show you your favorites!" Gilbert then frowned suddenly, leaning back on his chair. "Hey, West… Do you know when you'll get out?"_

" _Huh?"_

" _You know… Get out." He gestured with his hands a little. "Out of the hospital. It's kinda lonely without you. Or, well…" He shrugged, always hesitant when their mother appeared in their conversations. "Vati's out a lot. A lot more than usual. You need to come home!"_

 _Ah, right. Home. It was another thing that Gilbert always brought up, repeatedly pleading for him to come home with him. However, the answer was always a reluctant… "I'm sorry," Ludwig sighed, growing guilty. "I can't leave yet."_

" _Why not?"_

" _They said so." He pointed indiscriminately towards the door. "Not for a while, they said."_

 _Gilbert pouted. "So you did ask." He glanced at the clock, deflating with an exhale. "Why does time pass so fast?"_

 _Ludwig leaned back in his bed, thinking. He didn't even know what 'home' looked like. Maybe that's why he didn't have an overwhelming desire to go there; his world right now was just the hospital wing he was located at, not where he had grown up. And if he went there at that moment, what then? He wondered if he had any friends that missed him. Probably not, since no one other than Gilbert visited him. But even if he didn't have friends, how much time would it take before he could properly adjust to home life? He couldn't even use his legs right now!_

 _Although, maybe if he actually went home, it might unlock some memories pertaining to his past. It could finally answer just how he got into the accident, or maybe just something during the event of the accident-_

 _He suddenly started to feel feverish. His cheeks flushed, something in his chest burned, and everything felt a little strange. "Gilbert?"_

" _Yeah?" Gilbert replied, then stared at his brother in surprise. "Uh, you okay, West? You look a little red in the face…"_

" _I don't feel very good-"_

 _There was a series of loud beeps, startling both of the boys. They glanced at the source of the beeps: the computer monitor beside Ludwig's bed which read his vitals. One such vital caught both of their attentions._

 _His temperature, measured in Fahrenheit, was steadily rising: 102 degrees, 106 degrees, 108, 110, 113… The red text was flashing, warning anyone who looked upon it of Ludwig's dangerous state of health._

" _It's… It's not supposed to be that high, right…?" Gilbert faltered, then he gasped. "Lud! Hey! Hey! -"_

 _Through tunneled vision, Ludwig saw Gilbert rush to his side, grabbing his arm before suddenly recoiling. Gilbert shouted some more, clearly panicked, before he was whisked away and replaced by multiple doctors. Voices echoed as white figures weaved in and out of Ludwig's sight as uncomfortable heat pooled in his chest and hands. The voices soon gave way to the pulsating beat of his heart, and his eyes eventually squeezed shut as a hand tried to get a good grip on his arm._

 _Just as a needle poked in his arm, bright orange flared behind his eyelids. Loud ringing sounded in his ears just before everything went silent and dark._

* * *

"You've had them for years?" Feliciano gasped, then winced as he repositioned the ice on his head. "Really? That's so cool!"

Ludwig pursed his lips in mild embarrassment, put out by Feliciano's intrigued stare. At least Kiku - the one he had met just minutes ago - had the respect to not look as pensive, instead opting to stay silent and look down.

"But seriously," Feliciano continued, "I'm pretty sure I didn't come near to any, um, radioactive sludge recently. Or at all. That's how superpowers are usually formed, right? I mean, I think I'd know when I've come in contact with that type of stuff…"

 _ **He said that they were fear-activated.**_

"Ugh, Kiku! You need to stop that!" Feliciano whined, turning to face a red-faced, most likely embarrassed Kiku. "It hurts my head."

"Sorry," Kiku mumbled, coughing into his hand as he lifted his head to look at Ludwig. "But that's what you said, correct?"

Ludwig nodded. "Yes. It's a defense mechanism when…" He paused, thinking for the words. "… When a person feels that he is in mortal danger. A step further from the fight-or-flight response. Although, that's putting it simply," he sighed. "There's a deeper science to it."

"Science?" Kiku asked, surprised. "It's been studied on?"

Ludwig nodded. "Yes." _And recently,_ he added in his mind, but he didn't speak up.

Kiku's eyes widened slightly, but he quickly looked away.

"So… We have superpowers," Feliciano repeated, as if he had just realized that. "And… We have superpowers." He gasped. "Lud, are you a superhero? Wait, _can_ we be superheroes? Do we have to keep the powers a secret, like in the comics? That'd be great! Although, it'd be kinda weird, since we don't really keep secrets in my family. We tell each other everything! Well, most of everything. Grandpa doesn't really like talking about anything before Lovi was born…" He then grinned up at Ludwig. "We can be superheroes, right?"

"I…" Even after more than a week of knowing him, Ludwig sometimes still can't keep up with Feliciano's ramblings. "I'm not a superhero," he finally answered.

"Well, I suppose not. You'd probably be on the news already," Feliciano reasoned. Ludwig was about to say more but Feliciano beat him to it: "Ah, but that doesn't mean you can't! We could still be superheroes if we want, can't we?"

"I suppose-"

"Great!" Feliciano put down his ice to clap his hands. "Let's do it then!"

As Feliciano looked on eagerly to his two friends, both Ludwig and Kiku stared back in startled surprise. "… Now?" Ludwig asked, glancing at the clock in the room. _**3:57**_.

"Not _now_ , I guess," Feliciano huffed. "We can be superheroes next week. Yeah, let's do that! We can prepare, get costumes, and-"

"If you don't mind me interrupting," Kiku interjected, "but I believe that becoming superheroes is… Well, we don't necessarily have the resources to do so. True, we have…" He hesitated on the word. "… _Powers,_ but that doesn't mean we have the time and money to consider being superheroes. Neither do we have any fighting expertise, or at least enough to be able to fight crime." Pause. "And, before we immediately jump into being superheroes, perhaps we should take the time to get used to our powers beforehand."

"That's why we have the space of time to get ready!" Feliciano replied, this time more excitedly. "Although, Lud probably won't need the time, since he's had it for a long time. Years! Right?" He shifted to face Ludwig.

"Yes." He had spent _plenty_ of time getting used to them.

Feliciano straightened in his seat, interest piqued. "Ah, right, you still haven't said what your power was Ludwig! Is it something cool and awesome? I bet it is! What is it?"

Kiku glanced sideways at Feliciano. "Feli…"

"No, it's fine," Ludwig quickly said. True, he had never explicitly told anyone of his powers before, but… _They can be trusted_ , Ludwig told himself. _They're just like me._ "It's…" _What was the word she used?_ _Oh, yes…_ "Pyrokinetics."

Feliciano blinked. "Pie-what?" He turned to Kiku. "What did Lud say?"

The door suddenly opened, which caused the three boys to turn and face a slightly peeved teacher.

The teacher huffed. "Why are you kids still here?" He then glanced at the bookshelf, eyes widening. "And you made a mess! What's up with that?"

"We'll clean it up," Kiku assured, completely dodging the teacher's complaint. "But we still have time-"

"We're cutting clubs short," the teacher snapped, jerking a thumb back. "Remember? Attack on the school yesterday?" The teacher snorted, rolling his eyes. "Whatever. Clean up and leave, and make sure not to get attacked." And with that, the teacher slammed the door closed.

Feliciano started tapping the table again. "No need to be so angry…" He muttered. He then faced Kiku and Ludwig, expression bright. "So anyways, we'll start being superheroes next week?"

Kiku stood up, grabbing the laptop and sliding it in his bag. "In all honesty, I'm done with having 'superpowers' for today…" He sighed as he picked up the books scattered on the table. He then paused. "… I'll, um, think about it."

Ludwig and Feliciano also stood up, Feliciano talking excitedly as the other two packed up. "So we'll really do it? Great! I'll need to find a costume, and oh! I think I know where to find one! This is going to be exciting! I can't wait! ..."

As Feliciano rambled on, Ludwig turned to Kiku. "I'll see you next week?" He asked, polite. After all, he didn't mean to bring all this drama…

Kiku nodded. A small smile tugged on his lips. "I should assume so," Kiku replied, also polite. He turned to the bookshelf. "I'll clean up before I leave."

"If you want, I can help," Ludwig offered, about to go to the bookshelf himself before he saw Kiku shaking his head quickly.

"No, it's fine. I wouldn't want your family to wait on you," Kiku declined. "I'm fine, you can go."

Ludwig opened his mouth to insist, but closed it instead to nod. "Thank you." He walked to the door. "Good bye, Feli."

Feliciano paused in his discussion to whip around and face Ludwig. "Oh, you're leaving? Wait for me!" Grabbing his bag, Feliciano dashed to the door past Ludwig. He glanced at the ground in surprise for a brief second before waving at Kiku. "See ya, Kiku!"

Kiku waved back. "See you."

Feliciano grinned at Kiku again before opening the door wide. "See you next week!" He shouted as left the door open in his wake. "Come on, Lud!"

Both Ludwig and Kiku waved at each other in goodbye, and Ludwig shut the door behind him.

* * *

Four rounds of knocks later, Gilbert finally opened the door. He grinned when he saw Ludwig.

"Hey, West!" He greeted, leading Ludwig inside. "About time you came home! How was the club?"

"It was fine," Ludwig shrugged as he carefully removed his shoes. "Fun."

Gilbert snorted. "'Fun'? That's it? Was it that bad?"

"No. It was fine," Ludwig insisted. Fun was downplaying it; _exciting_ could be a better word. "… Dramatic."

"Right, right… Anything with a Vargas brother would be dramatic." Gilbert rolled his eyes. "That was… Feli…? That invited you last week?"

Ludwig nodded. He glanced up when a _ding_ sounded, following Gilbert's gaze. Gilbert immediately brightened as he made his way to the kitchen.

"Ah, dinner's ready!" Gilbert called out. "You don't mind pizza, right?"

Ludwig entered the kitchen just as Gilbert was waving away the steam floating away from a pepperoni pizza fresh from the oven. He raised an eyebrow. "I thought Vater left us leftovers…?" Their father had indeed left marked containers in the fridge before he had left on Sunday, firmly telling the two brothers to eat something healthy 'for once'. The message went over Gilbert's head, apparently.

"I'm sorry if I can't eat cold sausage two days in a row," Gilbert retorted, taking off his oven mitts. "You know, maybe we should have taken up the offer Toni's mom made yesterday. Even if she wasn't making taquitos, she still makes good food." He blew out a breath. "… We should have. Meh. _Anyways_ ," Gilbert drawled out the word as he slowly faced Ludwig. "Put away your bag upstairs, West! Tonight, we dine!"

Gilbert shooed Ludwig out of the kitchen and up the stairs, even though Ludwig didn't need any prompting. Ludwig entered his room by himself and with a smile, hearing Gilbert shout "And _change_ , for goodness sake!" after him before stomping down the stairs. He shut the door behind him.

With a sigh, Ludwig dropped his bag on the ground as he looked up to his bed-

\- his gaze landing on the tin box on his nightstand.

… _Right._

He walked to the stand and gingerly picked up the box. _How long has it been?_ He wondered. Just over a week, he realized. His last day at the labs was the last time he actually… _Used_ his ability. The tin was a gift from the labs, but what was inside the tin was more for his ability, rather than he himself.

And even though he already knew what was in the tin, he was still pleasantly surprised when he opened the lid.

Bandages. _Red_ bandages, to be exact. Ten, inch-thick rolls sat in orderly rows of five, with a pressed piece of paper on top of them. Penned in blue ink was a smiley face and a five-word message of _Good luck! Don't die! - Julchen_.

Typical Julchen.

Setting the tin on his bed, he proceeded to change into his pajamas. It didn't take long, and soon he was setting his street clothes in a hamper and he took a roll from the tightly-packed tin.

… He had time.

Ludwig had no doubt that the rolls would work, but he still wanted to test it. He started wrapping the bandage tightly around his right forearm towards the elbow, wrapping it about six times before stopping. With a deep breath, he held out his bandaged arm in front of him.

He almost flinched when the flame arrived with a snapping sound, enveloping his arm with smokeless, bright orange fire up to the bandage. It worked like it was supposed to: stop the flame from enveloping his whole body and… Well… _Burn_ his surroundings.

Despite its dangers, it actually felt soothing.

"West!"

The fire flared slightly in response to Ludwig's briefly startled state, and Ludwig shouted, "I'm coming!" as he tried to extinguish his fire-covered arm. It burned out into white wisps, leaving the skin red and warm to the touch. Quickly unwrapping the bandage - only the edge subject to the fire was slightly singed, ensuring multiple uses -, Ludwig exited the bedroom to dinner.

* * *

 **Ludwig Beilschmidt - Germany**

 **Gilbert Beilschmidt - Prussia**

 **Feliciano Vargas - N. Italy**

 **Kiku Honda - Japan**

* * *

 **In which this chapter should feel** _ **shame.**_ **For taking a** _ **long, long**_ **time to write. Freaking refused to be written.** _ **It's kinda short, I know.**_

 **And yes, before you ask, Julchen is an OC emulating Nyo!Prussia. Don't worry, we'll see more of her later.**

 **So, ahahaha… Lud has fire powers. Didn't expect that, huh? He usually doesn't receive elemental powers in Superhero AUs, just something like super strength.** _ **Boring.**_ **(and yet I'm still gonna have someone have super strength, how hypocritical)**

 **Again, I'm sorry that this is a week late. Hopefully, the next chapters are on time. See ya next time, have a nice day~!**


	7. Origin Discoveries

_**Feliciano**_

"If you would _mind_ , Feli," Lovino huffed as he jogged to catch up with Feliciano, "please slow the hell down. You are going way too fast."

Feliciano glanced down, surprised, at his own two feet. Was he really going that fast? Well, should he really be surprised at this point…?

He shrugged, giving Lovino a wide grin. "I guess so!" He laughed, consciously slowing down his pace so his brother could keep up. "I've just been a lot faster lately, haven't I?"

"How should I know?" Lovino grumbled, looking at his own shoes. "This week has just been really weird; I don't care at this point."

Feliciano simply shrugged, but he silently agreed with his brother. Monday, there were the weird people that attacked (the police were still investigating, according to the news, and labeled the 'N5' as terrorists). Then Tuesday rolled into view, towing along with the revelation that Feliciano had superpowers (or _supernatural abilities_ , whatever they were called). Now it was Wednesday, right after school had ended, and since then Feliciano had been spending the time having plenty of fun with his newfound abilities.

The increased running speed was fun, but it was more than that. He could do more work in a shorter amount of time (without even trying!), he was more energetic, he didn't get as tired anymore, and he was almost never late! Little things like that just made his speed more exciting, and he was very thankful for it.

The few downsides, however…

"Hey, ah, Lovi…" Feliciano laughed nervously. "Do you have any extra snacks?"

Lovino turned to Feliciano suspiciously, eyes narrowed. "You're _hungry_?"

"… Yeah?"

"How are you hungry?" Lovino probed, incredulous. "Lunch was literally three hours ago, and you ate _everything_ in your lunchbox! And _you_ were the one who packed extra snacks! How in the world are you hungry?"

Feliciano shrugged, but he had an inkling that it was his powers. He didn't know how it worked exactly, yet it made sense that he would need more energy from food to be faster.

Lovino sighed. "There's probably something at Grandpa's café. If you're _that_ hungry." He paused, eyes narrowing at Feliciano. "But if you eat too much, you are going to get fat. Just saying. Genetics won't save you."

Feliciano giggled. "Oh, come on Lovi…" He punched Lovino lightly on the shoulder. "That won't happen."

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Just saying…" He sighed, then turned a corner as a familiar sight came into view. "Come on, Grandpa's waiting. I'd rather not be late to the café _again…_ "

Feliciano just hummed to himself quietly, smiling as they neared their grandfather's café: _La Bella Rosa_. Apparently fashioned like the coffee houses in Italy, _La Bella Rosa_ was their grandfather's pride, joy, and "second child, crafted single-handedly in times of trouble" (even if, in actuality, Grandpa had bought the storefront when he was little more than a young adult). He had owned it ever since their mother was little, and while it would probably never be as big as the chain-store coffee shops (which their grandfather had, multiple times, called them cheap phonies of _real_ coffee houses), it was still somewhat popular in its place by other quaint restaurants. Even if they had to take a detour from the usual route home, the café wasn't that far from home.

The two walked through the gate that was part of the adorned metal fence enclosing the café's front small patio area. Already, Feliciano could see some bustle inside the café; it wasn't too busy, but just enough customers for a Wednesday afternoon. He didn't recognize any from school, but he knew some of the adults in there were good friends with his grandpa.

Lovino pushed open the door, the bell ringing. Feliciano quickly followed inside and he took a deep inhale; the smell of pastry and coffee was always his favorite.

"Boys! Over here!"

Feliciano glanced at the kitchen, and he grinned. "Hey Grandpa!" He called out, briskly walking to the counter and standing on his toes to catch the sight of his grandfather in the kitchen. "You okay over there?"

"Yeah—" He was touting three bottles of flavoring-syrup in his arms, and from what Feliciano's vantage point two of them were labeled _Vanilla_ and _Peach_. "Help an old man out, could you Feli?"

Nodding quickly, Feliciano lifted the flap that separated the main area of the café and the counter-kitchen area and entered swiftly. He took two of the bottles from his grandfather's arms and then realized his grandfather was holding _five_ bottles instead of three. Before he could say anything, however, his grandfather was already out of the kitchen and behind the counter, placing down the syrup bottles. Feliciano followed, handing the two bottles over.

"Seriously, Grandpa," Lovino sighed from in front of the counter. "You should really hire other people; you shouldn't do this alone."

Their grandfather laughed lightly, standing back up. "The day I hire is the day I can't stand on my own two feet anymore. And I can assure you, that won't happen for a long time." He smiled. "You two here to hang out or help?"

Lovino rolled his eyes. "You should still hire," he muttered, but he still lifted the flap and deposited his backpack under the counter, replacing it with a black apron similar to their grandfather's. He was tying it on as he crossed into the kitchen, muttering about washing his hands and 'dibs on the pastries'.

"Actually, Grandpa…" Feliciano shrugged the backpack strap further on his shoulders, smiling apologetically. "I think I'm gonna go home. Err… Homework and such."

"Hmm?" His grandfather raised an eyebrow, then his face fell. "Really? That much homework? Ahh, I was expecting the extra help, Alexandra's stopping by…" He shrugged. "But homework is more important. You go do that, Lovino and I will work. Is Sebastian going to come? Hmm." He clapped Feliciano on the shoulder. "We'll be home by around five, okay?"

"Of course!" Feliciano backed up to let his grandfather pass by him into the kitchen, and Feliciano himself lifted the flap to exit. He waved goodbye. "Later!" Quickly exiting the café, he started running home and only came to a stop from his jog-like pace when he was already a block away.

Wait.

Feliciano looked back. With barely any effort, he had run a whole block in a few seconds flat. Curious, he looked back at his feet; they looked none too ordinary, still the same feet he had ever since he was born. He frowned. The whole prospect of him being able to run faster still boggled him, and he just had to wonder: how fast could he _really_ go?

Feliciano marked the path home in his mind. Straight ahead two blocks, turn left, then continue on a block and a half to the house. No one else was on the sidewalk; no one he could run the risk of accidentally slamming into when he took off. He took a deep breath. Running was fast, running was easy; nothing to it. It wasn't the perfect test, but at least he could get a good grasp as to how fast he could comfortably go, or at least how fast he could go until he got woozy from the effort.

And with that, Feliciano broke into a sprint.

For a second, euphoria and vivid energy coursed through him. He didn't feel anything other than a very slight breeze and a feeling of elation brightening his spirits. Time seemed to slow to an imperceptible rate, and his surroundings were a blurred green and gray. Blood roared in his ears, his breath was slow and even, and he felt like he could do anything. Take on the world, run faster than ever, accomplish amazing feats… Nothing could stop him, absolutely nothing—

Almost immediately after, something caught on his foot. A gasp escaped him at the abrupt stop, and before he knew it he was sprawled on his back, breath lost and his knees stinging. He could only blink in his daze, sky swirling with dark dots in his vision. It took him a while before he could sit up, and when he did vertigo crashed against him like a wave. The culprit of his trip, an untied shoelace, mocked him from where he sat. He suddenly felt very, very drained of food and energy.

When he managed to stumble up and stand (not before double knotting his shoes, both of them), he noticed a woman on the other side of the road staring at him. The dog attached to the woman's leash pulled to go further on their walk, but the woman just stood and stared, mouth slightly agape. She must have seen him take that nasty trip, Feliciano realized.

Feliciano gave a little wave and a smile, hoping to get the "I'm okay" message across.

It did. The woman shook her head out of embarrassment and continued on her walk. Feliciano laughed breathlessly at the sight before a roiling headache started throbbing in his head.

He needed to get home and eat, fast.

Rubbing his forehead, Feliciano checked the street signs and realized with a jolt that he had _overshot_ the distance; he was three streets past his own, clocking in at a total of five blocks in, what, a few seconds? It certainly felt like that. But if he was going to be a superhero, he'd have to learn to at least not trip when running. Maybe go faster, but that wasn't priority number one.

That honor belonged to going home and getting a quick snack. Then, he had to get one of the most essential tools a superhero had to get before they start being a legitimate superhero…

With that, he turned towards home and started walking.

* * *

A yogurt cup or two later, and Feliciano was already feeling better. The headache had mostly faded away, save for a small inkling of it that still persisted in the back of his mind. His scraped knees stung from the ointment and tight bandages, but he was too preoccupied with food to truly notice.

Ahh, he couldn't wait until dinner…

Tossing the cup in the trash, he stood up and stretched. Running like that was hard, but a thing like that probably took practice. Kinda like soccer, he just had to do drills and practice runs to get better. And once he got the hang of it, he'd be able to be a true superhero.

Speaking of…

"Sebastian? Are you here?" He asked out loud to the house. For what he was going to do, he had to be alone. When no response came, he took that as a no and climbed the stairs. Cautiously peeking in his grandfather's room, he grabbed a long, slender rod with a small hook on the end that leaned on the dresser. He backed out of the room as he squinted at the hallway ceiling. Where was it, where was it…

He brightened when he saw the little metal ring, and he hooked the rod on the hook and pulled down.

A trapdoor swung down, a ladder sliding slowly out. Feliciano took hold of the bottom rung when he could reach it and helped it slide down faster, satisfied when the resounding click secured the ladder. Making sure that no one was watching one last time, he started to climb.

He hadn't been in the attic for a long, long time. Only his grandfather went in the attic anymore; it was like a private space that he went to whenever he was having an off day. But years ago, especially when Feliciano and his brothers first moved in to his grandfather's house, the attic was always a favorite place to go. They would always struggle a bit in getting the ladder down, but Lovino's extra height at the time helped in retrieving it. There, they would explore their grandparents' and mother's remnants of the past, either through flipping through old scrapbooks or playing dress up…

Feliciano sneezed when he poked his head through the attic floor, waving his hand a bit to clear away the floating dust. He never remembered the attic being this dusty, but he then remembered that it had been a while since Grandpa had come here. When was that, a few weeks ago? Slowly he climbed up and stood above the entryway as he scanned the attic.

It had been a while since he last saw it… Was it even still here?

Ignoring the boxes upon cardboard boxes of memorabilia, Feliciano scurried to the far corner of the attic to a large wooden closet. Brushing off some dust off the handle, he carefully opened the closet door with a creak.

He and Lovino had found the outfit when they were younger, sometime after they had moved in. Sebastian was taking a nap, Lovino was reading, Grandpa was out of the house getting groceries, and eight-year-old Feliciano was bored out of his mind. After much persuasion, Feliciano convinced Lovino to explore the attic with him. When they had found the closet, Lovino mentioned that it was similar to the magical closet in his book that transported people to other worlds. Feliciano, being very much excited to the idea of a magical closet, opened the doors and flung himself in.

Young Feliciano heard Lovino freak out, as expected, but he was too absorbed in finding the magical world on the other side of the closet to come back out. He still can't quite remember what had happened next, but somehow he was dragged out by Lovino and holding a bright blue and white outfit tightly in his arms. Astonished, the two tried it out; it fit Lovino better, since he was bigger, but it still swamped their small bodies. They were trying to figure out who the suit belonged to when Lovino noted that it looked like a superhero suit.

And that was why, when Feliciano opened the closet for the first time in years, he was sorely disappointed when there was no blue and white superhero suit resting on the floor of the closet.

Feliciano sneezed again at the rising dust. After this excursion, he definitely was going to be covered in dust. He made a mental note to take a shower after this. But focusing on the task at hand, he pushed away long coats to search. All the coats were a dusty, boring brown — one that looked almost black in color even had an old spider web trailing across its collar — but nothing like the vivid blue from years ago. Frowning, he pushed against the walls in case of a hidden wall; perhaps that's how he got it years ago? But the wall was solid, and the closet revealed no secrets.

He frowned. He was _sure_ that it existed, he and Lovino could attest to that. They even showed it to their grandfather when he came home that day, and he was just as surprised at their discovery as they were. In response to Lovino's question of what a superhero suit was doing in the attic, their grandfather simply folded the suit up, smiled, replied that it was simply a sewing project he and "your darling Grandma" did, and went upstairs to put it back. After that, no matter how many trips to the attic they took, they never found the suit again.

Feliciano carefully shut the closet door and looked around. Where else could it be? After moments of deep thought, he lifted the lid of a box that was right beside the closet and wasn't as dusty as the others. If anything else, even if he didn't find the suit, sifting through old memorabilia was still fun.

However, when he lifted the lid, two dead spiders dropped out of the lid as one rolled to a stop on the old board games stored inside the box and the other fell to the ground close to Feliciano. Shrieking in more of shock rather than fear, he stumbled backwards in fright as his instinct to run was harbored by an old floorboard jutting slightly out of the ground.

Coughing, Feliciano slowly sat up to sorely touch his once-again aching knees. This trip to the attic has been nothing but for vain, causing him more pain than help—

He blinked suddenly.

 _Wait a minute…_

Feliciano got on his knees to inspect the jutting floorboard. One edge of it was tilted up while its other end dipped into the floor. Under the dust, he noticed that the floorboard was a darker shade than the rest of the wooden boards. Curious, he carefully inserted his fingers under the risen part of the floorboard and lifted. A few creaks and the foreboding fear of accidentally breaking the floorboard later, the floorboard tipped back to reveal a second, true floor.

Feliciano sucked in a breath in surprise, but immediately coughed afterward.

He carefully inserted a hand to feel around for possible cobwebs (and spiders), but it was surprisingly clean. It was also a surprise when his hand suddenly didn't feel wood but instead… Something much smoother… Plastic? His hand wrapped around the somewhat thin but durable plastic sheet, and he dragged the mysterious object — which made odd scraping sounds — to the opening of the hole for a better look.

"A helmet?"

Feliciano held it in his hands. Devoid of any dust, the white, plastic exterior shone from the dim light that streamed from the window. Rotating it, he saw a bright blue visor where the head would view out of and a similarly blue buckle strap underneath it, almost similar to a racecar helmet. But when Feliciano held it up to look underneath, the visor was a less intense blue and he could see more color through it. The material inside the helmet felt like a cross between foam and pillow cloth.

"… Huh." Suddenly overcome with curiosity and nostalgia, Feliciano giddily unbuckled the strap and slipped the helmet over his head. He tightened the strap as best as he could, but it was still a bit big for him as he could shift the helmet around a little bit. Through the visor, his surroundings had taken on a slight blue hue, especially the shadowy corners of the attic. Feliciano grinned; how didn't he find this before?

With the helmet still on, he stuck his hand below the floorboards again and felt around. He mentally scolded himself for not bringing a flashlight; despite the sunlight outside provided most of the lighting in the room, it was still dark in areas. And with this helmet, it wasn't exactly doing any favors of lighting up any shadowy area—

Feliciano froze when his fingers skimmed over a strangely textured fabric.

Feeling the fabric between his fingers, he surmised that it felt something close to the same wicking material of what athletic clothes were made of. Feliciano hurriedly returned his hand to snap the buckle off the helmet and remove it, and he used both hands to take the folded fabric out. His eyes widened when he took it out.

The suit was neatly folded. When he unfolded the first layer, four blue items stared up at him: a pair of gloves and… Boots? Feliciano took one of the boots and held it by its heel upside down; anything that wasn't part of the sole was made of a firm but flexible fabric that Feliciano guessed hugged the leg. The long gloves were made of the same material, and when he put his hand in one of them the material almost reached his elbow. He moved his fingers around, staring in wonder.

He returned his attention to the suit. So _that's_ where it had been hiding all these years… But why? There was nothing harmful in a superhero suit, right?

Though, if his grandfather found out what he was using the superhero suit for…

But this would make for a good costume nonetheless, and Feliciano was happy about it. Sure, he would have to actually try it on to see if it fit him, but now that he was grown it him much better. Or at least, he thought so. The helmet would help in shielding his face to the world, so no one could recognize him while he ran around the city saving lives. Feliciano grinned. Already he was going on with a great start!

Now, for the superhero name…

* * *

 **Feliciano Vargas - N. Italy**

 **Lovino Vargas - S. Italy**

 **Romulus Vargas - Ancient Rome**

 **Sebastian Vargas - Seborga**

 **Alexandra Karpusi - Ancient Greece**

* * *

 **THIS. CHAPTER. MY GOD.**

 **Even though I had a VERY DETAILED PLAN on how this chapter would go, it freaking REFUSED TO WRITE ITSELF. GOD. And not to mention school-ish things and personal-ish things were happening in life. Finally got this thing done, though.**

 **Two more chapters until the end of the intro arc! There's a total of four arcs in this story (the third which sorta overlaps the fourth), all of them** _ **much**_ **longer than the intro arc. I swear that they're longer than 9-10 chapters. I have very detailed plans for them.**

 **And oh hey, it's SHR's birthday today. Seven (Eight if you consider that deleted extended description) chapters in one year. … I need to step up my pace.**

 **Alexandra's gonna be important later~ Much later~ She's one of my fave side characters (beside a few** _ **others**_ **I shan't reveal), I like her.** _ **Also is a character considered an OC if they're only ~mentioned~ in canon and doesn't really make an appearance and thus I'm doing said character through my own ideas—**_

 **In any case, thanks for reading! Got any criticisms/praises/comments you wanna share? Fire away! I live off of it. That, and freaking bubble tea. So don't be shy! See ya next time~!**


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